Coronation Street fans have been left open-mouthed after discovering Carl Webster star Jonathan Howard’s past role.
The actor, 41, joined the ITV soap in 2025 as the estranged brother of Kevin and Debbie Webster.
However, Carl has had a tumultuous time on the cobbles so far after having an affair with his sister-in-law Abi Webster, nearly killing Tyrone Dobbs in a hit and run, and stealing money off his sister Debbie who has been diagnosed with dementia.
In scenes earlier this week during Corriedale, Carl had attempted to flee Debbie and Ronnie Bailey’s wedding to Germany after his lies finally caught up with him.
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After being way over the drinking limit, Debbie tried to stop him as she got in the car but Carl drove off with both of them inside. Carl ended up crashing into the car pile-up, which had happened due to Emmerdale’s John Sugden driving into Becky Swain during the crossover.
Following the crash, Carl moved an unconscious Debbie into the driver’s seat as he attempted to run away before collapsing.
Carl was later rushed to hospital where Kevin warned that he knew all his secrets, including swapping their sister to the driver’s seat, but Debbie continued to defend her younger brother who also smugly denied the claims.
With Carl being centre stage this week, soap watchers have been intrigued to discover his past roles before Coronation Street.
Taking to Facebook, one person said: “I’ve been watching Downton Abbey, again on Netflix and guess who was on…” alongside a snap of Carl star Jonathan as Sam Thawley in Downton Abbey in 2013.
One person said: “He looks totally different, I wouldn’t have recognised him”, a different account put: “He looks so different!”, another said: “I would never of recognised him!” while a different soap watcher added: “Is that Carl?”
Actor Jonathan, who was born in Lancashire, studied at LAMDA before landing many Hollywood roles. In 2013, he starred in World War Z and Thor: The Dark World.
In 2014, he went on to appear in Mr Selfridge, in 2019 he appeared in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and now he has landed the role of Carl Webster on Corrie.
In his personal life, it is believed that the actor is married to actress Elodie Yung, who has starred in the likes of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Daredevil and she has more recently played the title role of Thony De La Rosa in The Cleaning Lady.