Daniel Brocklebank has shared an emotional farewell message with fans after Billy Mayhew’s funeral scenes aired following his death in a minibus explosion
Dan Laurie Deputy Editor of Screen Time
08:38, 29 Jan 2026
A Coronation Street favourite has said his “final goodbye” to the ITV soap (Image: ITV)
A Coronation Street stalwart has said his “final goodbye” to the ITV soap following an 11-year stint.
Daniel Brocklebank turned to social media to post an emotional message to fans after his character Billy Mayhew’s funeral scenes were broadcast.
Billy perished in a minibus explosion during the Corriedale crossover episode earlier this month.
His demise wasn’t simply a consequence of the crash but rather a calculated murder by the sinister Theo Silverton (James Cartwright), who left him trapped inside the blazing vehicle.
Rather than pulling him to safety, Theo fastened Billy’s seatbelt back into place, intentionally confining the unconscious vicar as petrol started leaking and flames engulfed the minibus, reports the Daily Star.
Billy momentarily came round and was shown reciting his own last rites moments before the minibus went up in flames.
Daniel Brocklebank turned to social media to post an emotional message to fans
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In the aftermath of the explosion, police wrongly arrested and charged Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) for the death, after her brother Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard) had set her up for causing the initial collision whilst he was driving under the influence.
Daniel took to Instagram on Wednesday evening (January 28) to share a photograph of the order of service from Billy’s funeral alongside an image of his coffin.
He wrote in the caption: “Well, that’s it. Final goodbye to Billy and my 11 years of being part of that special @coronationstreet family.
“Loved the writing!”Dapper Dan”, “Greatest Showman” some lovely nods. You say goodbye, I say hello to so many new adventures. With huge love @coronationstreet over and out.”
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Daniel has since been flooded with messages from fans and his Corrie colleagues, including Harriet Bibby, who portrays Summer Spellman, who penned: “Miss you like mad x.”
Gareth Pierce, who takes on the role of Todd Grimshaw, chimed in: “Wasn’t hard to play ‘grief’, mate. x”.
This Morning’s soap expert Sharon Marshall wrote: “A beautiful piece of soap history. Though loving how happy you look in the coffin pic xx”.
In a chat with the Echo, Dan confessed he’ll miss the bonds he’s formed, but is resolute about staying in touch with his former co-stars.
Residents raised a glass to ‘dapper Dan’ Billy Mayhew after he was laid to rest(Image: ITV)
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He elaborated: “I’ll miss the people. Having said that, the people that I am most close to, we speak all the time, we see each other all the time. I have no intention of leaving where I live in Manchester.”
He continued: Harriet, who plays my daughter, she only lives 10 minutes away from me so we’ll get to see each other all the time.
“We’ll just have to make more of an effort to see each other because rather than just having being able to bump into each other at work we’ll now have to arrange a coffee or a lunch.”
Coronation Street airs weeknights on ITV1 at 8.30pm and available to stream from 7am on ITVX