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Audrey gets a new man next week in Coronation Street. He'll be introduced to the show as a hospital radio DJ who Audrey meets while she's there recovering from an accident.



Audrey's new fella will be called Geoff Metcalfe and he's played by actor Ian Bartholemew.

Ian Bartholemew starred on stage in my favourite musical, Half a Sixpence, where he played the role of Chitterlow. He's done a great deal of theatre and stage work in his time, everything from Shakespeare to Noël Coward to Guys and Dolls.

His film work includes: Eisenstein, Shiner, Half a Shave, Max and Helen, A Prayer for the Dying, Little Dorrit, Esther Khan and Denial.

And on TV you may have seen him in New Blood, Maigret, The Accused, Foyle’s War, Thieves Like Us, Spooks, Florence, Casualty, The Echo, Thacker, Perfect Scoundrels, Follow the Star, South Riding, Bergerac, Open Wide, DCI Banks, Empire, Without Motive, Wycliffe, Harry, The Blackheath Poisonings, The Darling Buds of May, The Comic Strip, The Good Companions, The Professionals and Minder.

Ian was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1991 for Into the Woods; Best Supporting Actor in a Musical in 1993 for Radio Times; and Best Actor in a Musical in 2016 for Mrs Henderson Presents. He won the Manchester Evening News Award for Best Supporting Actor as Doolittle in Pygmalion at the Royal Exchange in 2010.

Quite a pedigree! We're looking forward to seeing him turn up in Corrie next week.