Colson Smith has hinted at taking on 'new opportunities' as things get interesting for his Coronation Street character. The actor is best known for playing Craig Tinker in the ITV soap who has had a complicated start to the year after he had to quit his beloved job as a PC after helping cover up his girlfriend Faye Windass and her pal Emma Brooker's secret.
The pair were horrified at the start of this year when driving back from a New Year's Eve party learner Faye knocked over an elderly gentleman, known only as Ted. While the man got back up and they safely returned him home for a brew, they later returned to the flat and found him dead before entering into a blunder-filled cover-up.
Since then, Craig has quit the police as he went against his oath in order to protect Faye and he now works alongside step-dad Kirk Sutherland in the factory. But in recent episodes, we have seen the former copper struggling with his decision and admitting to 'resenting' his girlfriend.
However, everything changed during Friday night's trip to the cobbles when Faye revealed to her other half that she's expecting his baby and he's going to be a dad.
Away from Corrie though, Colson is taking on a completely different kind of show as he's among the stars signed up to Holly Willoughby and Freddie Flintoff's new ITV programme, new live series, The Games. It will see the group of famous faces having to step out of their comfort zones to be coached, trained and then compete, hoping to be crowned top of the medals table and will air this spring.
Hosted live by This Morning and Dancing On Ice host Holly and former cricketer turned Top Gear host Freddie, The Games will also see former professional footballer and presenter Alex Scott as a trackside reporter and former professional football player and presenter Chris Kamara as a commentator.
Speaking on the Sofa Cinema Club podcast, alongside Corrie co-stars Jack P. Shepherd and Ben Price, about his next gig, Colson said: "It's [The Games] going to open up new doors for me and new opportunities.
"I love acting but the other thing I love is presenting. The podcast allows me to do both, and this show [The Games] might open up a door for me. When ITV buys the rights for the Olympics I'll be, 'Hello and welcome to the Olympics, it's me, previous Olympian, Colson Smith.'
"As long as I'm safe and I'm enjoying it. Corrie is my job, this is another job. I'm happy to balance the both of them, I like being busy. That's all I want to be. We all love working at Corrie and I'm fortunate enough to have Corrie, the podcast and The Games on at the same time."
Colson said he is also planning to practice some of the sporting challenges on the Salford-based Corrie set. "I reckon on Corrie from the Bistro to Rosamund Street Medical Centre is about 100 metres, and if you can run on cobbles you can run on a track," he said.
Colson also addressed why he has chosen to take on the physical challenge now after shedding a lot of weight. He has previously said he weighed 140kg before he discovered a love for running, with him now regularly documenting his runs and gym visits on social media.
Last year he documented his battles with weight as part of his own film 'Bored Of Being The Fat Kid’, which was released on YouTube, and back in January Colson, who has never revealed the amount of weight he has lost but is reported to be 10 stone, celebrated a personal achievement as he told fans he had been a runner for two years.
"I'm doing this because obviously two years ago I was a very different person, and now, weirdly, my hobbies are fitness," he said on the podcast. I generally enjoy keeping fit and challenging myself. And this is a challenge, it's a way to keep fit.
"There's a part of me in my head where I have always had limitations on myself and always believed I couldn't do certain stuff, and I've kind of proved bits of that wrong over the past two years. So I guess taking this on is another understanding of the fact that there aren't any limitations to what I can do. I can keep progressing."
