Coronation Street gives new lucrative contracts to five of their top stars including Bill Roache

Patti Clare gave Coronation Street fans a shock as she cast aside her apron and looked sensational on A Christmas Chase: Celebrity Special.The 44-year-old, who plays awkward Mary Taylor on the soap, looked nothing like the scatterbrained florist. She looked super glam on the quiz show, which again hit our screens on Tuesday 23 December.

direct to your inboxFormer Coronation Street star Bill Ward has swapped acting roles to be a Tesco delivery driver after the coronavirus pandemic hit.The actor, who also starred in Emmerdale, is best known for playing builder Charlie Stubbs in the ITV soap. The ill-tempered character was on the Corrie cobbles for 418 episodes between 2003 and 2007 before Tracy Barlow sought revenge, attacking Charlie with an ornament, which consequently resulted in him later dying of his injuries.

When we catch up with Samia and Sylvain Longchambon after OK!’s exclusive Christmas photoshoot, we quickly discover why they fell head over heels back in 2012. Coronation Street actress Samia, 38, and former Dancing On Ice star Sylvain, 40, are as family oriented as each other, and tell OK! they love nothing more than spending time with Freya, 11 – Samia’s daughter with ex-partner Matthew Smith – and their son Yves, five.

Coronation Street star Samia Longchambon has gushed about her talented husband in a loving post.The 38 year old actress shared a video on her Instagram page showing Dancing on Ice pro Sylvain dancing with skate partner Vicky Ogden.The two dancers move around effortlessly on the ice in the black and white video as Ellie Goulding’s song River plays in the background. Get exclusive celebrity stories and fabulous photoshoots straight to your inbox with OK!'s daily newsletter.

If you’re a die-hard Coronation Street fan then you may well remember Bruce Jones who played the part of Les Battersby.The actor left his role as the taxi river in 2007, but what has been up to since? Let’s take a look… Get exclusive celebrity stories and fabulous photoshoots straight to your inbox with OK's daily newsletter . You can sign up at the top of the page.

Veteran agent Jay Schachter has been promoted to the Head of the Film & Television Departments at Stewart Talent New York.

Coronation Street actor Alex Bain has become somewhat of a household name among fans of the soap, playing the part of Simon Barlow. Alex rose to fame as a child star and first appeared on the cobbles back in 2008, and he’s since been involved in a series of tense plots.

After comedian Bill Bailey, pop star HRVY, EastEnders’ Maisie Smith, Good Morning Britain’s Ranvir Singh and Made In Chelsea’s Jamie Laing all made the Strictly semi-finals, new magazine asked top celebrity talent manager Jonathan Shalit for his predictions on their next moves and potential earning power. HRVY ‘could be a millionaire’ He's won over a legion of new fans, but Jonathan believes singer HRVY could return to his roots as a TV presenter.

Sam Robertson has starred on Coronation Street as Adam Barlow since 2004. In fact, he firstly left the show in 2007, but returned again in 2016 to the delight of fans.The star lights up our screens as the handsome solicitor, at the centre of blackmail scandals and most recently a mystery attack that saw him hit from behind by an as yet unknown person.

The world is currently binge-watching The Undoing, with viewers desperate to know just who killed Elena Alves.The series has been flying on social media later, especially after the Kardashians took to their platforms to express their love for the HBO thriller. And it turns out that the boy playing the part of Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman's son, Henry Fraser, is none other than Noah Jupe, the real life son of former Coronation Street star Katy Cavanagh.

Manchester soap for six weeks.