Perdita
31-03-2008, 18:52
ITV / Rex Features
Veteran actor Michael Byrne has signed up to play Gail Platt's long-lost father in Coronation Street.
In scenes to be broadcast this summer, Byrne's character Ted Paige will shock Gail (Helen Worth) and his former partner Audrey (Sue Nicholls) when he pays a surprise visit to Weatherfield and announces that he is gay.
The summer episodes will reveal that Audrey dumped Ted after she discovered she was pregnant with Gail at the age of 18.
A source told The Sun: "Audrey wanted to settle down with someone so she could claim back son Stephen who she had when she was 16. But the man she fancied wasn't interested so Audrey went for his best friend, Ted.
"When she discovered she was pregnant by Ted, she fled as she knew he would propose - and she couldn't spend the rest of her life with him."
Veteran actor Michael Byrne has signed up to play Gail Platt's long-lost father in Coronation Street.
In scenes to be broadcast this summer, Byrne's character Ted Paige will shock Gail (Helen Worth) and his former partner Audrey (Sue Nicholls) when he pays a surprise visit to Weatherfield and announces that he is gay.
The summer episodes will reveal that Audrey dumped Ted after she discovered she was pregnant with Gail at the age of 18.
A source told The Sun: "Audrey wanted to settle down with someone so she could claim back son Stephen who she had when she was 16. But the man she fancied wasn't interested so Audrey went for his best friend, Ted.
"When she discovered she was pregnant by Ted, she fled as she knew he would propose - and she couldn't spend the rest of her life with him."