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Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Kyle O'Sullivan

Beyonce did backing vocals on Corrie star's single - and she was nothing like she is now

There aren't many people who can say that Beyonce did their backing vocals - but that is the case for a former Coronation Street star.

Matthew Marsden had a stint as a male model before he began his acting career in Emmerdale in 1995 before joining the cast of Corrie in 1997.

The hunky actor played mechanic Chris Collins, who had a scandalous affair with Sally Webster during his year-long stint on the cobbles.

After leaving Weatherfield, Matthew decided to make a drastic career change to become a singer and signed a £500,000 record deal with Columbia Records, who are owned by Sony.

His debut single 'The Heart's Lone Desire' went to number 13 in UK charts, but it's his second song that is really quite incredible.

Matthew was playing a demo of his second single, a cover of Hall & Oates' 'She's Gone', at Sony's studios in London in 1998 when Beyonce's dad Matthew Knowles burst in.

Matthew Marsden was a Coronation Street star then became a Hollywood actor (Granada Television)
He played Chris Collins on the cobbles (ITV)

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Matthew, who was Destiny Child's agent, stuck his head in and asked who Matthew was, then told him: "You've got to sing with my girls.

Speaking on the Fascinated podcast with Gearóid Farrelly in January 2020, the former soap actor revealed: "We went and recorded that afternoon. it was really crazy.

"Beyonce was amazing. All the girls were lovely. She's just unbelievably beautiful. Believe it or not she's super shy."

Matthew explained Beyonce wasn't like Sasha Fierce at the time and that she was rather more reserved than you would imagine.

But he claims he told someone in the studio she would be 'the biggest star in the world', adding: "She was unbelievable. She's so skilled as a vocalistic. It's a nice thing."

That wasn't the last time the ex-Corrie star saw Beyonce as they had a reunion when he was in America.

"It was great, I had a good time. And I saw her over in LA at a big party. She came over and gave me a big hug and it was really nice," he said.

Destiny's Child were his backing singers (Reuters)

At the time, a lot of soap stars were making the move into the music world, but it was mostly Australians such as Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan.

Matthew, who now lives in America and is a US citizen, said: "I think most people are like 'the guy from Coronation Street did a song with Beyonce? That's so random'.

"The funny thing is I think we tend to do that in England but no one sits there and goes 'hold on a minute, Nicole Kidman is doing a duet with Robbie'.

"Looking back it's kind of random. I don't tell anyone what I've done in the past anyway. The majority of my friends here don't really know my life before I came to America. I don't talk about it much."

In a strange turn of events, Matthew's song with Detsiny's Child wasn't a hit as it only reached number 24 in the UK charts and his singing career went downhill from there.

His third single was lined up and he shot the video, but before it ever got released he left the label.

However, his career took another surprising turn as he starred opposite Michael Caine in British movie Shiner before being cast in Ridley Scott blockbuster Black Hawk Down.

Matthew Marsden has now gained American citizenship (Getty Images)
He said Beyonce was 'super shy' (Reuters)

He became a big star in Hollywood and appeared in a number of films such as Rambo, Resident Evil: Extinction and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen .

Speaking to Metro in January 2014, Matthew spoke about a number of the big names he has worked with.

He said: "Ridley Scott is a genius – he’s a gentleman. He’s one of the greatest directors of all time and he’s still humble. I went for dinner with him at The Ivy and he had fish and chips. That’s the kind of guy he is.

"Michael Caine – I asked him to give me some pointers and he said: ‘You’re doing just fine.’ I heard later that he doesn’t give actors notes because someone once told him to pack it in. He’s technically brilliant and totally down to earth.

"Michael Bay – he’s the best action director on the planet, to see him work with seven cameras going is incredible.

"Sylvester Stallone – his work ethic is insane. He was writing the script in the car on the way to the set. He got a bit of bamboo stuck in his arm, it nearly ripped his bicep off, and he just carried on. He knew everything about different sniper rifles."

Matthew also appeared on our TV screens in Castle, CSI MIami, NCIS and a recurring role in Two and a Half Men.

Matthew starred on Corrie in the 1990s (ITV, grabbed from YouTube)

However, he will forever be remembered by UK audiences as the man who nearly split up Sally and Kevin on Corrie.

Unbeknownst to his boss Kevin, Chris has a passionate affair with Sally, which she did in revenge for her husband having it off with Natalie Horrocks.

When Sally went back to Kevin, Chris had a fling with barmaid Samantha Failsworth and she was ready to leave the Street with him, but in the end her did not call for her and left alone.

Matthew had been sad to leave Corrie because he loved his time there, but he realised he needed to leave for the sake of his career.

"I was already sensing that people were seeing me as the character and not as anything else. I thought if I've got to do the move I need to do it very quickly," he explained on the podcast.

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