Coronation Street star Will Mellor has detailed how he was left shocked when a fan came up to him and slapped him over the face.
The 45-year-old soap star, who also played Steve Connolly in Broadchurch, was left speechless when the angry fans failed to tell his menacing character apart from the person he is in everyday life.
During an amusing appearance on This Morning, Will recalled the incident, telling hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary that he has faced much criticism for playing ‘baddie’ in his soap roles.
Will, who also plays evil Harvey Gaskell on the cobbles, recalled that he was walking down the street with his dear dad when a passerby began to heckle him before they approached the actor to slap him across the face.
“People do believe what your characters do in soaps,” Will explained.
“People always shout at you in the streets and that, but years ago, I did Brookside and I was in that when I was about 17 and my character Paul he had a passion wagon with a mattress in the back – a lovely character,” he laughed.
“Anyway, Paul got a girl pregnant when she was sixteen and he legged it back to Manchester after finding out. He left her there in the lurch. So, after that aired, I’m walking with my dad where I used to live and this elderly lady is walking towards me.
“She started to confront me, and then all of a sudden she hit me right across the face. Then she shouted ‘you’ve left that poor girl pregnant. You better get back there and look after her – she's pregnant and she’s only sixteen’.”
Will explained that although most people realise that the storylines are simply fictitious, others find it hard to tell the drama apart from reality due to the fact they are so invested in the soaps.
The actor’s admission comes as his character Harvey is a man on a mission in upcoming Coronation Street scenes, as he returns to the cobbles with murder on the mind.
Harvey was thrown behind bars after Leanne Battersby refused to do as he demanded, and she shockingly gave evidence against him in court.
Corrie fans are in for some serious dramatic scenes this week, as Harvey seeks revenge on Leanne.
And speaking about the upcoming episodes on This Morning, soap star Will insisted that his character is ‘well capable’ of murder.
Coronation Street airs tonight on ITV.
