Portadown<\/a> native Aaron McCusker will be the man at the helm at the famous Rovers Return on Coronation Street.<\/p>\nThe long-running soap has made something of a coup in attracting the home-grown star to behind the bar.<\/p>\n
Aaron has become a familiar face to millions with a succession of roles in some top dramas on either side of the Atlantic, including Shameless, Dexter, Castle and Fortitude, and most recently Hope Street, filmed here in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
He also played the part of Jim Hutton, the long-term partner of Freddie Mercury in the Oscar-winning biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s no stopping him now, as he is set to follow in the footsteps of a string of some of TV soap\u2019s greatest names, from Annie Walker to Bet and Alec Gilroy, Jack and Vera Duckworth, butcher-turned-barman Fred Elliott and Liz and Steve McDonald.<\/p>\n
Coronation Street \u2013 which this year celebrates its 65th year \u2013 has been a staple \u2018must watch\u2019 for generations of soap fans.<\/p>\n
And, while many feel that the golden age has gone for the popular drama, Corrie bosses will be hoping the addition of Aaron as part of a new family will help give it a much-needed boost.<\/p>\n
The Portadown man\u2019s stint in the Rovers comes with the return of Catherine Tyldesley to the cobbles after a seven-year absence.<\/p>\n
Tyldesley \u2013 who plays Eva Price \u2013 left Coronation Street with baby daughter Suzy. Now she is back for a fresh start with husband Ben Driscoll (McCusker) \u2013 who arrives along with his two sons.<\/p>\n
Ben and Eva will take over as landlords.<\/p>\n
And to add to the drama, Ben\u2019s mother, Maggie \u2013 played by Pauline McLynn, famed for her role as Mrs Doyle in Father Ted \u2013 will bring another new face.<\/p>\n
Coronation Street producer Kate Brooks said told ITVX: \u201cWe are beyond thrilled that Eva is returning as the landlady of the Rovers, with her new blended family in tow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Driscolls do not arrive quietly, so expect big drama, explosive secrets and raucous knees ups galore.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have actors of Catherine, Aaron and Pauline\u2019s considerable calibre at the beating heart of this family is absolutely wonderful, and we can\u2019t wait for you to get to know and fall in love with them as much as we have already done.<\/p>\n
\u201cStrap yourselves in, it\u2019s going to be an exciting and eventful ride.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Co Armagh man \u2013 who began his career in acting with the Phoenix Players in Portadown \u2013 will not have far to travel to film, as he now lives in Greater Manchester.<\/p>\n
Aaron\u2019s first scenes are due to air in October and here\u2019s hoping for a long and productive run!<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Co Armagh man is poised to take over as the landlord of Britain\u2019s favourite TV boozer! Portadown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1499,1500,1498,77,1501,12,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-323842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-armagh-city","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-county-armagh","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-latest-news","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114984635986883626","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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