Coronation Street actor Ian Bartholomew has revealed that he has had to have therapy to deal with playing his abusive character Geoff Metcalfe.
The soap star, 66, has said that he received weekly counselling sessions after asking Corrie bosses for help.
He admitted that he had found it hard to switch off after acting at the traumatic domestic abuse scenes involving co-star Shelly King, who plays Yasmeen.
Ian, who was this week awarded with the Best Villain accolade at the Inside Soap Awards, explained that he had found it emotionally "tricky" and that it wasn't easy being around him at times.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: "I did approach Coronation Street for some counselling, which they very kindly gave me.
“So every week I had the opportunity to walk into a room and just off-load and say: 'This is what I’m feeling, this is what I hate about this man, this is what I hate about this storyline, but I know I have to do it.'"
Ian said that the counsellor had been "fantastically helpful" and "very calm and clear".
He continued: "People say to me: ‘you’re playing a villain, it’s got to be fun.’ But I really don’t like the character that I play – he’s so alien to me - and I didn’t feel that I could burden my wife and children, because it wasn’t really their problem."
This comes as fans are set to finally see the climax of Geoff and Yasmeen's harrowing abuse storyline, which has spanned over several years, next month.
Yasmeen will go to court to defend herself against the attempted murder charges she faces after being attacked by ex Geoff.
She had defended herself against Geoff by grabbing a bottle and smashing it, before stabbing it into his neck.
The courtroom scenes will air during Corrie's special 60th anniversary week and Ian described them as being "really intense".
He said: "Of course Geoff loves it, because he’s having his day in court, so he goes in with this confidence to convince people that actually he was right all along and it’s all her fault and he’s been the victim."
*Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV
