Coronation Street star Samia Longchambon had a reunion with one of her former co-stars as he got to work in his new job. The actress, who plays Maria Windass in the ITV soap, headed out at the weekend for a stroll in the sun.
And as she headed to a local park, the Eccles-born star bumped into Jonathan Wrather, who will be remembered by Corrie fans for playing Joe Carter on the cobbles. Soap fans may also recognise him for playing the evil Pierce Harris in Emmerdale, who recently 'returned' to the Dales as he tried to get ex-Rhona Goskirk to help him find his son as he died in prison.
Despite his acting success, Jonathan has ditched the limelight and opened a fresh-pressed juice and coffee bar. The 53-year-old opened Remedy on the Park in November 2021.
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He told The Sun at the time : "I began juicing and became intrigued by the health benefits that can be gained from drinking raw juices. Then, I bought a juicer and began researching and reading religiously about nutrition and juicing."
However, over the weekend, Jonathan's bright blue van, which is often a feature on his business' social media page, was back trading at the Village Park in Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Cleary enjoying her opportunity to get a taste of the juices Jonathan has on offer, Samia shared a selfie of the pair to her Instagram Story, with her former co-star smiling from his van. "Love a nice healthy juice when we are at the park," she wrote before adding: "Thanks my ol' Corrie pal Johnny! @remedyonthepark."
Jonathan played Joe in the ITV soap, an ex-con who was head-hunted by Mike Baldwin to be the new Underworld manager, from 2002 to 2003. After a year at the factory, Joe tried to scam Mike by setting up fake invoices for a fake company called Artrec and pocketing the paid proceeds.
But he ended up leaving Weatherfield when Mike rumbled the scheme and Joe's accomplice, Karen McDonald, ratted him out to save her own skin. More than a decade later and the actor joined Emmerdale as Tess Harris' widower Pierce who went on to marry Rhona Goskirk before being sentenced to five years imprisonment for raping her.
Before opening his own business, Jonathan also starred in Fat Friends, Waterloo Road and Casualty to name but a few. Last month he posted a photo to his Remedy on the Park Instagram page of himself alongside his wife and children. The message on the post read: "Juggling family life and running a new business is not always easy. I’ve closed the van this Easter weekend to spend time with the fam. We’re working hard behind the scenes and excited to be expanding our business with new staff, extended opening times, new juicing premises and more! Have a great weekend folks!"
And he has since hired a new member of staff who he introduced as Lou on his page before sharing a photo of himself and revealing: "Preview glimpse of our new unit! We’re scaling up production to lovingly make more of our cold pressed goodness for you to enjoy."
