Mike Manning

Michael Christopher Manning was born on April 12, 1987, in Thornton, Colorado, to parents Michael Sr. and Susan Manning. The oldest of three children, he grew up in Colorado and Florida alongside his younger siblings, Jonathan and Alyssa. During his youth, Manning participated in children's theater and acted in high school stage productions, including Oliver! and And They Dance Real Slow in Jackson.

Manning first gained national public attention in 2009 at age 22 when he joined the cast of MTV's reality television series The Real World: D.C., the show's twenty-third season. Having recently come out as bisexual prior to filming, his time on the show highlighted his personal life, family background, and religious faith. While on the program, he engaged in social activism, working with organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign and the Energy Action Coalition to advocate for environmental policy and LGBT rights.

Following his television debut, Manning transitioned into a professional acting career across film, television, and theater. One of his prominent early roles came in the 2014 Disney Channel original movie Cloud 9, in which he played competitive snowboarder Nick Swift. His early screen and stage credits also included appearances in eCupid, Operation Cupcake, Hawaii Five-0, Crash & Bernstein, Teen Wolf, and the Santa Monica Playhouse production CLIMAX.

In 2014, Manning expanded his career into film and television production by co-founding Chhibber Mann Productions alongside actor and producer Vinny Chhibber. The company aimed to create content focused on positive social change, contributing to projects such as the feature film Folk Hero & Funny Guy. As an executive producer, Manning worked on notable documentary projects, including Kidnapped for Christ, which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2014, An Act of Love, and Lost in America.

Manning continued to secure major television and film credits in subsequent years. He portrayed Caleb McKinnon in the digital drama series The Bay and its spin-off yA, while also serving as a producer on the series. Later television roles included playing Charlie Dale on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives, appearing in the final season of This Is Us, and starring as Bradley "Smitty" Smith on the CBS series Beyond the Gates. His film acting credits during this period include Slapface, The Way Out, and The Bell Keeper.

Throughout his career, Manning has received several industry honors and awards for his acting, production, and community work. He was presented with the 2011 Courage Award by LifeWorks and the Rebel with a Cause Award by Weekender magazine, and served as a youth ambassador for Boo2Bullying. In 2018, he won a Diamond Award for Best Actor at the LA Shorts Awards for Words Left Unsaid. As part of the production team for The Bay, he won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2020 for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series, followed by an individual Daytime Emmy Award in 2021 for Outstanding Performance By a Supporting Actor in a Daytime Fiction Program. He received subsequent Daytime Emmy Award nominations in 2024 and 2026.

Outside of his professional work, Manning resides in Los Angeles, California. He enjoys outdoor recreational sports, including skiing, wakeboarding, and surfing. In October 2017, Manning married his husband, Nicholas Tocco.