Coronation Street fans took to social media as TV worlds collided and Strictly Come Dancing star Will Mellor returned to our screens as the villainous drugs lord Harvey Gaskell. Will, who has been impressing with his hip-shaking skills on the Strictly dancefloor, was back in the soap as jailbird Harvey.
In Wednesday night's episode Will, who has been winning hearts on the BBC One dance contest partnered with Nancy Xu, was a world away from the sequins and sparkle as he came face to face with heartbroken 11-year-old Sam Blakeman. His character Harvey is in prison a year on from gunning down and killing Sam's mum Natasha in a case of mistaken identity.
Sam asked to see Harvey to get answers about why he killed his mum and what had led him to a life of crime. In tense scenes Harvey snapped at Sam and poured scorn on his visit.
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But Sam, played by Jude Riordan, persisted with his questions until Harvey admitted that he had been through tragedy himself when he lost his own mother to cancer when he was 14. "She died when I was kid," he said.
But he menacingly asked why Sam would want to face his mum's killer. "I would have given anything to have five minutes with my mun's cancer. I would have torn it apart," he seethed.
The plucky interrogation from Sam, who was joined on the visit by his dad Nick Tilsley, eventually became too much for Harvey and he demanded to return to his cell. He was later seen trashing his cell in frustration.
Corrie fans though it was 'weird' seeing Will, from Bredbury, playing such an unpleasant character while competing for the glitterball trophy in real life. @CarlLids wrote with laughing emojis: "#corrie Sam Meeting Will Mellor."
@itzzzo_joked: "Harvey 'go on go on your little break I’ve got dance moves to practice'." And @mikepriestley13 wrote: "It’s weird seeing @Mellor76 act as gangster when we know he’s nothing like that. Very good."
Others are wondering if Harvey might be capable of redemption with help from Sam. @BBlowave tweeted: "Wish they would have brought Will Mellor in as a less extreme character (i.e not a murderer) as he’d be great as a main character in @itvcorrie." And @priya_kaur_uk wrote: "Wish Will Mellor was playing a nice character in this."
Elsewhere @pvcbossyboots swooned at the sight of him: "Oh my god, Will Mellor on #Corrie FIT." At the weekend Will and Nancy scored 35 points out of a possible 40 for their sizzling samba to I Go To Rio by Hugh Jackman. This Saturday they will perform the charleston to Hush by Kula Shaker.
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