Ciaran McCarthy (Keith Duffy)

I know she should just stay at home. We can only hope that Corrie bosses decide to axe her character soon once Ciaran has gone.

LOVERS Michelle Connor and Ciaran McCarthy return from their travels to discover Carla has been raped by twisted Frank Foster.

The couple do their best to comfort her as she tells them everything that has gone on since they have been away.

But Michelle can’t hide her shock and contempt for the way her close friend and former sister-in-law has been treated.

She assures Carla she will *support her in her court battle against Frank and will also help her get the factory re-opened.

But as they talk Carla tells Michelle she wants to drop the charges against Frank, leaving the brunette mortified.

A Coronation Street insider said: “Michelle and Ciaran *arrive back from working on a cruise ship but the smiles on their faces are quickly wiped off when they hear what’s happened to Carla.

“She is in a bad way. Frank is doing everything he can to make her life a living hell. He has brought about the closure of her factory as well as making a lot of the locals believe she made the whole thing up.

“Michelle can’t believe how much Carla has changed. She wants her to fight on and tries her best to talk her out of it.

“It’s going to take some doing for Michelle to persuade her to stand her ground.”

Corrie fans can watch Michelle and Ciaran arrive back in Weatherfield on November 3.

Daily Star Sunday

Coronation Street actor Keith Duffy will star in an Irish theatre show, it has been announced.

The 36-year-old will play Teddy Heelin in the production of Big Maggie.

Award-winning actress Aisling O'Sullivan will appear opposite Duffy in the title role, the Irish Independent reports.

When first staged in 1969, the play - set in rural Ireland - centred around a widow's desire to find love and shocked audiences with its sex scenes.

Duffy made his Irish theatre debut in Fiona Looney's play Dandelions alongside Pauline McLynn and Deirdre O'Kane.

Boyzone star Duffy recently denied that his character Ciaran McCarthy is being written out of Coronation Street for good, insisting that Ciaran is "alive and well and will return".

Coronation Street star Kym Marsh has hinted that there may not be an acrimonious split in store for Michelle Connor and Ciaran McCarthy.

The couple return to Weatherfield to announce their engagement in tonight's episode, but they will not remain together for long as Keith Duffy - who plays Ciaran - has already filmed the final scenes for his latest stint.

However, speaking on This Morning today, Marsh promised that the love between the pair will remain whatever happens.

"[Keith's departure] puts a question mark over what happens in their relationship," the actress explained. "But they are very much in love and even when Ciaran leaves, they're very much in love. So what actually happens leading up to that remains to be seen, but it is very good."

Marsh returned to filming at Coronation Street a few weeks ago as her maternity leave came to an end. She and fiancé Jamie Lomas welcomed the arrival of their baby daughter Polly in March.

Discussing her return to work, Marsh confessed: "It was really difficult. It was quite scary and the thought of not being with [Polly] at every second of every day was a bit harsh at first.

"When you have any time off and you come back, even after a holiday, you feel like the new girl again and it's like, 'I think I've forgotten how to do this!' So after ten months it was like, 'Oh no!' So I'm not expecting my first scenes to be very good!"

The 35-year-old also praised her comeback storyline, which sees Michelle support Carla (Alison King) amid her troubles with evil rapist Frank Foster (Andrew Lancel).

"It is brilliant, because I'm back in with a bang, really. It's good because I hit the ground running," she said. "The thing is that Carla and Michelle are sisters-in-law. As we know, Carla was married to Michelle's brother. They're very much a love-hate relationship, but it just shows that when the chips are down, they're there for each other. It's quite a shock, really."

Coronation Street airs Michelle and Ciaran's return tonight at 8.30pm on ITV1.

© ITV
Keith Duffy has claimed that producers have given him flexibility over returning to Coronation Street.

Speaking in an interview with RTÉ, the 37-year-old actor said that the show's bosses have assured him that he can reprise his role as Ciaran McCarthy at any time.

"It's very much open," he said. "The producers said that while they understood my family commitments in Ireland, they told me to remember that there was always a job for me on the Street."

The Boyzone singer has previously insisted that he will rejoin the soap.

Since announcing his departure, it has been reported that Duffy will soon star in an Irish theatre show.

Duffy's alter ego Ciaran, who arrived back on the Street with fiancé Michelle Connor last Thursday, is being written out in a dramatic Christmas storyline.

Contrary to rumours, Keith Duffy's not leaving Coronation Street - in fact he might even move to Manchester next year. Donal O'Donoghue meets an upbeat performer to talk about the loss of his friend Stephen, his future in Weatherfield and why family is so important.

Keith Duffy - taking to the stage
"Do you like my haircut?" says Keith Duffy, bouncing about like a prizefighter. "You know I had long hair this morning." And now? Well, now the actor and singer is sporting a matinee look for his role as the rakish Teddy in Druid's production of Big Maggie. "I love Mad Men", says Duster, as his fellow Boyzone members know him. "I actually wanted one of their haircuts."

It's the end of the interview and Duffy is ready for his close-up. But the photographer's presence has reminded him that he'd been to the barbers earlier. This was after the school run and before the media treadmill and rehearsals for his first stage show in yonks. It's a hectic schedule but Duffy wouldn't swap it for anything. He loves being back in Dublin after the epic commute to Manchester for Coronation Street. He's a happy family man - he lives in north County Dublin with Lisa and their two children, Jordan and Mia - and doing family things. He's home, loving it and shouting it from the rooftops.

And boy can Duffy can talk. Just ask a question - like 'Hey Duster, how did you get the part of Teddy?' - and he's off, reeling in the last two years of his career like a man not just telling you how it is but also remembering how it was. He talks about the death of fellow band member Stephen Gately ("I'm still devastated"), his return to Coronation Street (the kid will not be written out of that picture) and the recent Boyzone tour ("the next big thing is our 20th anniversary in 2013"). "I'm not 19 any more", he says somewhat ruefully, at one point. "I'm closer to 40 than I've ever been."

In fact, Duffy is 37 and his son Jordan (or Jay as he calls him) is fast approaching his 16th birthday. "You should see the hands on him", says Keith, lifting up his own not inconsiderable mitts. "They're bigger than mine." He talks about Jay's newfound fame (the lad plays a recurring role on Hollyoaks) and how autograph hunters now approach them looking for the son and not the father. "I tell Jay that I used to have that once", says Duffy. "But occasionally young ones do come up to me and I'm thinking, 'here we go'. But then they say, 'My ma loves you, can you sign this?'"

It's the morning after Westlife's break-up. Duffy knows the Westies well - they used to play support to Boyzone back in the day - but is surprised that they have decided to split for good. His own band never made that definitive move ("we were on a seven-year break" he argues) and earlier this year wrapped a major tour. "We're dormant at the moment but we're together forever now", he says. "I think the next big thing for Boyzone will be in 2013 which will mark our 20th anniversary and there is talk of an anniversary tour and an album." It seems there's always lots of talk where Keith Duffy is concerned. Contrary to the rumours that were flying hither and thither last month, the Dubliner has not cashed in his Coronation Street chips. Yes, there will be a dramatic - but not terminal - storyline that will take his character, Ciaran McCarthy, towards Christmas. "I get loads of opportunity to show all my flair from all different angles", he says. "Ciaran gambles away all his wedding money and then gets into trouble with Michelle (Kym Marsh) and then he robs a bistro to get his money back and then he gets caught. It's great." But don't write Ciaran off even then. "It's very much open", he says of his Corrie future. "The producers said that while they understood my family commitments in Ireland, they told me to remember that there was always a job for me on the Street."

For now, his life is on stage with Big Maggie. "Teddy is a bit of a ******* but a very charming one", he says. "There are also lines in the play that suggest he is very attractive and all the women fancy him. I don't know how I'm going to pull that one off." He laughs. Hang on a second there Duster, didn't we just see you on TV recently, shortlisted for one of those Best Looking Hunks in Soaps awards? He shrugs sheepishly. "For the last ten years I was nominated as Britain's sexiest soap star and every year I get down to the last few before Scott Marsden pips me at the post", he says. "Me granny and me wife are always saying 'I don't know what they see in him, he's an ugly fecker' but they might be biased. The thing is I'd love to get out of that 'you look great but can you act?' bracket. Druid will hopefully make other actors look at me differently."

In the past, critics have battered Keith Duffy's acting: the gist of the criticism being Dorothy Parker's classic putdown of running the 'gamut of emotions from A to B.' Sticks and stones to a man with a bulletproof belief in his own worth. "When I came into this business from the boyband, a lot of actors frowned at me", he says. "They thought that the only reason Coronation Street hired me was because I was a familiar face and I would add to the ratings. They didn't realise that I have a love and flair for the acting. It was always an ambition of mine to be an actor."

Duffy, whose parents, Patricia and Sean, were both in amateur drama, made his stage debut at 12 years old. "I was the lead gangster in a school production", he says. "My mother still has the photographs at home." His father was also a veteran of the showband circuit and Duffy Jnr admits that the old man was "a much better singer than I ever was". When Boyzone were 'dormant', Duffy flexed his thespian muscles with a starry turn in The Clinic (RTÉ) and the Dublin stage play, Dandelions. But Druid is another step up the ladder. "This is a big challenge for me, without a doubt", admits Duffy.

His daughter Mia, who was diagnosed with autism in 2001, also entertains showbiz ambitions. "Mia is now saying that she wants to be an actor. But she wants to be a funny actor, she wants to do comedy. She is quite funny in fact. She can mimic anything that she has seen on TV. But I don't know what Mia will do. Right now she's doing fantastic and we're very proud of her, but she has long way to go. She does ballet, piano lessons and is on her second year of life-saving courses. We try to keep her as busy as we can and she likes to be in a routine."

Following Mia's diagnosis, Keith and Lisa's relationship struggled. "When Mia came along it was very rocky for a while but we always managed to get through", he says. "You have to work at a marriage because nobody is perfect. When you're together as long as we've been together (17 years last September), you know what buttons to press to p*** the other person off. The good thing is that you've been there before so you've had that row. We don't raise the voices any more. It might be the quiet treatment for a couple of hours and then one or the other will come forward and say sorry. But things are great at the moment. We are very lucky to have each other."

Stephen Gately, who used to call Duffy 'Kitty', was a close friend of Duffy and his family. "It's still devastating even today", he says of the singer's tragic death in 2009. "Back then it was difficult to control your emotions no matter where you were or who you were with. You'd get waves of emotion that would floor you and you'd end up crying your eyes out in front of people, especially after a few drinks. But I have great faith. I wouldn't be a big churchgoer but I do believe in God and Jesus and Mary. I say my prayers and talk to them. And I talk to Stephen. I have belief in the afterlife and that Stephen is waiting for me there. That's what keeps me going: my faith. But there are days that I miss him terribly."

Duffy is still bouncing - and bubbling - with enthusiasm 30 minutes after we meet. Pumped up with ideas and ambitions, he believes that Big Maggie and Druid could be the start of something big - or serious. He talks about the joy of being able to have breakfast with his family, he fiddles with the notion of relocating to Manchester with his family for Corrie and he speculates about a number of big TV dramas slated for production in Ireland in 2012. Sure he wants a piece of that action but he's keeping his cards close to his chest. "My usual thing is to say I'm doing this or that and then I don't get the gig and I end up with egg on me face and I look like a dope", he says."So I'm not saying anything until the contracts are signed!"

Coronation Street star Keith Duffy has revealed details of his dramatic Christmas exit storyline.

Duffy told RTÉ that alter ego Ciaran McCarthy will steal from his restaurant after losing money on the horses.

"Ciaran gambles away all his wedding money and then gets into trouble with Michelle (Kym Marsh) and then he robs a bistro to get his money back and then he gets caught," he said. "It's great."

The 37-year-old, who is starring in an upcoming Irish theatre show, believes that his autumn return has challenged him as an actor.

The Boyzone singer added: "I get loads of opportunity to show all my flair from all different angles."

Duffy quit Corrie permanently in September after nearly ten years in Weatherfield on-and-off.

Coronation Street star Kym Marsh has teased how Michelle Connor reacts angrily when she discovers that her fiancé Ciaran McCarthy has gambled away their wedding cash.

Michelle's parents send over funds for an upmarket venue later this week. However, things go wrong when she gives the cash to Ciaran to take care of and he ends up losing it to Karl Munro (John Michie) in a poker game.

Ciaran (Keith Duffy) hopes to keep his foolish mistake under wraps in upcoming episodes, but it doesn't take long for Michelle to discover the truth.

Marsh told Take It Easy of the scenes: "She thought that he loved her and he wanted to marry her, but the fact that he's gambled their money makes her feel that she means nothing to him.

"She feels insignificant, like he wants to go off and enjoy himself and have a flighty life and that's not what she wants."

The couple's current storyline sees them realise that they may want different things as Ciaran hopes to return to the cruise ships, while Michelle wants to stay on the street.

Asked how Michelle would choose between Ciaran and the cobbles, Marsh replied: "I know she'd want to go with Ciaran - she adores him and he does love her, but leaving the street, her job and her friends may be a tough choice."

Coronation Street continues tonight at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV1.

Coronation Street star Keith Duffy has revealed that he may make a permanent move to the UK next year if the soap's bosses want him back.

The actor recently finished filming a brief return stint in the role of Ciaran McCarthy after deciding that he needs to be back home with his family in Ireland this year.

Keith and his wife Lisa are parents to 15-year-old Jay and 11-year-old Mia, who has autism.

Reflecting on his choice to bow out from Coronation Street, Duffy told The Sun: "It wasn't an easy decision. I sat down with my wife Lisa and she said, 'Keith, I really need you here and the kids need you here'.

"Mia is autistic and very set in her ways. Routine is vital in her life. And it's my son's first year of major exams at school. He's doing the equivalent of his GCSEs this year. Lisa does the rugby run, swimming run, ballet run and school run for the kids. She has been brilliant but, at the same time, the kids need their daddy around.

"Moving the family over to England from Dublin wasn't an option just yet because Mia needs to finish her school year where she is at the moment. So I came in to see the Coronation Street producers and explained I was going to have to sit this year out in Ireland."

He added: "Hopefully, if they want me back the following year, then I might consider relocating the family to the UK next summer. They were very supportive, so we'll see what happens."

Coronation Street viewers will see Ciaran decide to leave the cobbles next week.

Keith Duffy has revealed that he is a tad jealous of his teenage son Jay - because he has more fans.

The former Boyzone crooner - who is back on TV screens in Coronation Street as hunky chef Ciaran McCarthy - admitted that the 15-year-old Justin Bieber lookalike, who starred in rival soap Hollyoaks, gets all the autograph requests these days.

"He winds me up about it. He's taller than me now - he's 6ft 1in - and he tells me he's better looking than me and that all the women like him more," he told The Sun.

"In front of him I pretend it doesn't bother me because he'd only be worse. So I say, 'Yeah, right, you're only a kid'. But it does worry me - nobody likes to feel they're getting old."

The 37-year-old added: "If I get girls running up to me now, it's nice and makes me feel as if I still have a bit of pull - but most of the time they come up to me and say, 'My granny loves you!'."

Keith, who is happily married to wife Lisa, relishes playing ladies' man Ciaran on the ITV1 soap, because it's worlds apart from his true self.

"He's nothing like me, which is why I love playing him. I've been with my wife for 17 years, whereas Ciaran is still young, free and single," he revealed.

PA