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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Jessica Sansome

Corrie viewers have been asking Purplebricks about the Rovers Return sale - so they've had to respond

Some Coronation Street viewers are eager to snap up the Rovers Return after it was put up for sale.

Fans of the ITV soap will have seen the large 'For Sale' attached to the iconic pub during Wednesday night's episode.

Barman Sean Tully was gazing up at the Purplebricks sign as co-worker Emma Brooker appeared ahead of a staff meeting with current landlady Jenny Connor.

But as viewers know, the Rovers has been put on the market after Johnny Connor decided to sell up - after Jenny confessed to a one night stand with B&B lodger Ronnie Bailey.

So now all eyes are on who will be the next owner's of Weatherfield's finest establishment - and adding their name to a list of memorable landlord's and ladies.

And with Purplebricks being the agents for the move, they have found themselves having to respond to viewers who have been looking for the listing online.

The company has told the Manchester Evening News that it has had over 100 searches for Weatherfield on its website and a similar number of people searching for the Rovers Return.

They've also seen an uplift in people looking for properties in Manchester in the last 24 hours as well as several people contact them asking to get the property details and wondering how much it’s on for.

"Disappointed to find on Coronation Street the Rovers return is up for sale... can't find it listed anywhere on your site," one tweeted.

Another said: "@PurplebricksUK massive fail. Where is the Rovers listing!"

"Come on @PurplebricksUK, @itvcorrie has advertised you, where is the listing??? #ForSale #RoversReturn #Weatherfield #Corrie," a third added.

A spokesperson for Purplebricks told us: "We are delighted to work with Coronation Street to ‘sell’ a true British television icon like the Rovers Return and it’s great that people are getting in touch to find out more.

"We’re looking forward to getting it ‘sold’ like we do for thousands of homes across the country every year."

Iain MacLeod, Coronation Street series producer, said last month that viewers seeing a real sign outside the pub will make the story 'relatable'.

"The upcoming story around the sale of the Rovers Return stems from something exciting that happens between Jenny and Johnny - but it also led to an exciting opportunity to team up with Purplebricks to sell the nation’s most iconic pub," he said.

"The presence of a real Purplebricks sign outside adds a little bit of extra realism to a really relatable story between two of our best-loved characters."

The collaboration between Corrie and Purplebricks is known as product placement (PP) and was introduced on television in the UK in 2011 and ITV led the way with the very first PP on British screens.

In 2018, ITV unveiled its biggest PP on British TV with a Costa Coffee and Co-op storefronts as part of the new extended Weatherfield set.

While us watching at home can't get in on the pub action, fans of the soap have been wondering who may be the next face behind the bar.

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