Former Emmerdale bad boy Reece Dinsdale has spoken how his relationship with Michelle Keegan got off to an embarrassing start when the pair worked together on Coronation Street.
As Emmerdale fans will know, Reece’s character Paul Ashdale died in a huge stunt which happened in the ITV soap last week.
Reece is one of just a few acting stars who have appeared in both Emmerdale and Corrie.
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Reece joined Coronation back in 2008 but he might not have ended up in the show if it wasn’t for Michelle Keegan.
Our colleagues at the Mirror report, while watching Corrie with his wife one night, Reece started singing the praises of the Tina McIntyre actress. Then in an almost spooky twist of fate the following day the actor got a call from his agent asking if he wanted to be Michelle’s on-screen father Joe.
"My reason for joining was 90 per cent because of Michelle,” he told the Daily Record in 2009.
“I was watching the show one night and I saw her. I turned to my wife and said, 'That girl is brilliant'.
"The next day my agent rang and asked if I fancied playing Tina's dad - it was meant to be.”
Although this did mean things got a bit awkward when Reece revealed the story of how he got on the soap to Michelle.
"From the start we got on very well. I told her that tale and think I embarrassed her,” he admitted.
“But we're good mates. She's a lovely girl and a talented actress. I wish her all the success."
Reece and Michelle developed a strong on-screen relationship during their two years together, but it came to a dramatic end.
In 2010, Reece decided to walk away from Corrie and his character was killed off.
Expressing her sadness over his decision to quit, Michelle told Digital Spy : “I'm really upset, I don't want him to do [it]. He thinks it's his time to go and it'll be very sad when he does.
“I love working with him, he's such a great character. I love him to bits, so it's going to be very, very sad."
After Paul Ashdale was killed off in Emmerdale his alter ego Reece will be remaining with the show. The star will be turning his hand to directing the ITV soap - once again.
He said: "I was actually directing on Emmerdale when I was asked, right out of the blue, if I would like to play Paul. I’m delighted to announce, therefore, that I shall begin directing once again on the show in a couple of weeks time. I’m the cat that got the cream."
You can find out the latest news from the soap by visiting our Emmerdale homepage.
