Coronation Street seems to be hinting at the comeback of a soap icon – 17 years after their shocking departure from the cobbles.
Les Battersby, portrayed by Bruce Jones, first made his mark on the soap in 1997, alongside his wife Janice (Vicky Entwistle), his daughter Leanne (Jane Danson) and stepdaughter Toyah (Georgia Taylor). He certainly caused a stir on the famous cobbles with his menacing and scheming antics. However, Les also added a dash of humour to the long-standing ITV soap.
After Janice and Les’ notorious split due to Janice falling for Dennie Stringer (Charles Dale), Les found new love with Cilla Brown (Wendi Peters). He was also known for his feuds with characters like Martin Platt (Sean Wilson), Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) and Mick Hopwood (Ian Gain). But in 2007, actor Bruce exited the show.
Reports suggested that Bruce had departed following allegations he got drunk with an undercover journalist, leaked future storylines, and made inappropriate remarks, as per the Mirror. Nonetheless, it appears a return might be in store for the TV veteran, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Currently in the soap, his daughter Leanne has been through a tumultuous few months. She was not only embroiled in a distressing cult plotline, but her fiance Nick (Ben Price) betrayed her with Toyah.
Nick’s betrayal of Leanne, after she got sucked into the shady “self-help” group The Institute, left her shattered. But since ditching the cult and discovering Nick’s fling with Toyah, Leanne’s heartache turned to forgiveness, and the two have been cohabiting.
However, in the episode aired on October 18, Leanne dropped a bombshell on Toyah, announcing her decision to live solo, which meant Toyah needed to find a new pad. Amidst the moving drama, Leanne hinted at her dad Les’s possible return.
While they were packing, Toyah quizzed Leanne: “You talked to Les lately?” To which Leanne responded: “Yeah, I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago. He was drunk obviously, and he expected me to summarise what had been happening in my life since the last time we spoke.”
Leanne continued: “I could hardly hear him anyway. He was at some wrestling show.” Dropping a juicy hint about Les potentially popping back up on our screens, Leanne mentioned: “He said about meeting up for a drink, but when I messaged back, he didn’t reply.”
Earlier in the year, actor Bruce shocked fans with his unexpected pivot to wrestling. Discussing his surprising career move, Bruce told The Guardian it began as a one-off for his character, Les, but escalated quickly. He shared: “So, they were like: ‘You don’t mind getting knocked about in the ring a bit, do you?”
