Former X-Factor and heart throb Shayne Ward is set to join the cast of Coronation Street as entrepreneur Aidan Connor.
He makes his great debut on Friday 21st August as Michelle Conor’s distant cousin Aidan Connor who is rumoured to be investing in lingerie factory Underworld upon his arrival in Weatherfield, rescuing the business after Carla’s gambling addiction spirals out of control.
The singer, who rose to fame as the second winner of The X Factor back in 2005, has been hitting the gym hard in the run-up to his debut, confessing that he wants to look his best in case producers ask him to strip on screen.
He told the magazine: ‘I’m sure they’ll go, “Shayne, take off your top!” at some point, so I want to get myself into good enough nick if the top does have to come off.’
While he’s keen for a soap romance, Shayne intends to stay single after splitting from his fiancée Faye McKeever last year after a decade together.
‘I just want to start having fun now, so bring on the nights out!’, he enthused.
Shayne is most excited about his mother Philomena seeing his star turn on Corrie, but has been keeping quiet about his storylines so far because he doesn’t want to ruin the surprise.
The star’s mum recently suffered a stroke and he can’t wait for her to be well enough so he can take her on a guided tour of the cobbles.
The star joins the growing list of former singers joining the soap including Kym Marsh from Hear’Say (Michelle Connor) and Boyzone’s Keith Duffy. Shayne however, proved a great disappointment to many of his supporters when his music career failed to materialise and was dropped by Simon Cowel’s outfit “Syco” after just 1 year