Flushed with joy
Corrie Richard thrilled as his character is swept to his death in the sewers
CORONATION Street star Richard Hawley has revealed he was “overjoyed” to be killed off in the sensational sinkhole plot.
The actor’s character Johnny Connor was last night swept to his death in the sewers, in shocking scenes that were months in the planning.
He was pulled into the drains under the famous cobbles as he tried to rescue ex-wife Jenny from a storm drain.
Richard, 66, said he had been talking with soap boss Iain Macleod about his exit since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said he was “overjoyed” that his final scenes were with the love of Johnny’s life Jenny, played by Sally Ann Matthews.
“For me, it is the completion of a great love story,” Richard explained. “You can’t get a truly great love story until it is over – until someone dies.”
Richard, who joined the ITV soap as Aidan and Carla’s dad Johnny in 2015, said it was his decision to leave.
He said: “Iain had known for some time that I was ready to go.
“I talked to him about it in the previous year and then all the plans and arrangements got stymied because of
Covid. I was very happy to be working but I live a long way from Coronation Street and all the travelling back and forth was getting a bit much for me.”
Johnny had a complicated back story. His ex-wife Louisa died off-screen in 1993 and so did Aidan (Shayne Ward) in 2018. He also went to prison this year for a historic crime which resulted in the death of a security guard.
Richard said working on the waterbased stunt with Sally Ann, 51, had been “fantastic”.
In the plot, the sinkhole at the Platts house expanded and Jenny found the ground, quite literally, opened up in front of her.
Richard said: “I loved it. To get the opportunity to do something so extraordinary raised everybody’s game.
“To be honest this is a crowning element – it was great to be at the centre of it. It wasn’t just the stunt, the whole thing felt like a small film.”
Next week the story continues for ITV’S annual “super soap week” involving more fallout from the sinkhole disaster, a major car accident and the repercussions of Harvey Gaskell (Will Mellor) coming back to the cobbles.
It was great to be at the centre of it, the whole thing felt like a film RICHARD HAWLEY ON SOAP’S SINKHOLE PLOT