Shayne Ward
“Ben Price told me I needed a fight scene and a love triangle!”
Aidan is sure to be the most hated man in Weatherfield once the locals find out how he’s treated lovely
Eva. However, the future is looking far brighter for Shayne Ward, who plays the love rat – and the actor is chuffed to have crossed another item off of his soap to-do list…
“I remember meeting Ben Price [who played Nick Tilsley] when I first joined
Corrie, and he told me, ‘You need a fight scene and a love triangle’,” chuckles Shayne, who made his cobbles debut in August 2015. “I’ve hit quite a few people, and now I’m involved in a major love triangle. So far, so good!
“It’s all heckling from the public, at least from afar,” adds the star. “But when people get closer to me, they’re always very polite and ask for an autograph.”
The novelty of working on the Street has far from worn off for the X Factor 2005 winner, who feigns fear when we ask whether Aidan’s wrongdoings could mean he packs his bags. However, there’s a certain lady who would be even more disappointed than Shayne if he were run out of town…
“My mum is still my biggest fan,” he grins. “But she’s always telling me to smile more on telly. I have to explain that the story doesn’t let me, and she says ‘I know, but a smile brightens up the screen’.
Bless her!” Shayne is lucky that he has so much to smile about away from the cameras. Unlike his womanising alter ego, he’s a devoted family man with his girlfriend, ex-hollyoaks star Sophie Austin, and their six-month-old girl, Willow – with proud Shayne even offering to show us photos of his beautiful daughter.
But we’re wondering how Sophie feels about her fella locking lips with two different women when he goes to work? “She’s fine with it – and she’s an actress herself, so I’m used to her snogging people,” Shayne tells us. “Sophie also kills people, of course! [She played Chester’s Lindsey Roscoe, aka the ‘Gloved Hand Killer’] That was actually what lured me in! My mates used to ask, ‘How could you do this story in front of your missus?’. Now they’re all into it and want to know who Aidan will end up with – but I can’t say…”