Coronation Street star Daniel Brocklebank recently bid farewell to the famous street after an explosive episode saw his character killed off. The Billy Mayhew star was a much-loved character on the soap for over a decade.
Viewers watched Daniel’s time on the soap come to an end in Monday night’s crossover episode with Emmerdale. “Corriedale” was a monumental moment for soap history as the worlds of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale collided for the first time.
The characters were caught up in the aftermath of Debbie and Ronnie’s wedding which soon turned into a tragic night.
A drunken Carl drove Debbie recklessly down the country lanes, while Kit raced after Becky, with Carla in the passenger seat.
Billy transported the remaining passengers back to Weatherfield. But things soon turned fatal when all of the vehicles ended up in a crash, meeting the Emmerdale residents who were also on their separate travels.
Daniel has a close link to both soaps as he had a short stint in Emmerdale before joining Coronation Street. Speaking on Corriedale: Backstage Pass, the actor said: “Many, many years ago I was also in Emmerdale and I played a bisexual Geordie binman, with the most Welsh sounding name you’ve ever heard. I couldn’t believe they didn’t want Ivan Jones to be Welsh. No, they did not.
“Anyway, I filmed my very last scene in Emmerdale in, what was then, the Woolpack set. That mini-bus was in the Woolpack set, so I filmed my last scene in Corrie about a metre away from where I was sat filming my last scene in Emmerdale. How crazy is that? 20 years apart. Very cyclical.”
The 46-year-old shared a throwback picture yesterday alongside his former co-star Nicola Wheeler, who is best known for playing Nicola King in the fictional village of Emmerdale.
Daniel captioned the post: “Youth! 20 years on we’re still laughing.” He starred on Emmerdale from 2005 to 2006, before his character Ivan left to begin a new life in Costa Rica.
After his final scenes on Coronation Street were aired, Daniel shared a photo of himself on set as his face is covered in fake blood, the soap star said: “He’d definitely had better days! What a ride! Thank you for all of your messages. Thank you for all the years of support. Big love. Billy over & out.”
Ha also spoke to the ECHO ahead of his exit scenes. He said he has “nothing but love” as he shared what he will miss about life on the cobbles, he said: “I’ve got eleven years worth of memories as well.
“Eleven years is a long time to be working in one place. I’ve been an actor now for 32 years, and eleven of them were spent there. It does become like a big family.
“During that period, you may have helped each other through all sorts of things, marriages, births, deaths, and you’ve supported each other through those sorts of events in life, which inevitably bring you closer to each other.
“So the relationships on a job like Corrie are far deeper cemented, purely and simply because of time.”