I’M A Celeb star Simon Gregson’s Coronation Street onscreen brother Nicholas Cochrane has stunned fans by looking very different to what viewers of the late 80s and early 90s will remember.
The 47-year-old actor found fame on the ITV soap playing Steve McDonald’s twin brother Andy for eight years before leaving the show in 1997.
Nicholas’ character stayed in the programme before he was axed, along with several other cast members, in a high-profile cull by a new producer.
His character took a job as an English teacher in Spain, but has since returned for two short spells so that Andy could be seen attending the remarriage of his parents and later being best man at his brother’s wedding.
The actor appeared on ITV’s This Morning in 2018 and looked very different 21 years after be left the cobbles.
What has Nicholas done since leaving Coronation Street?
After Coronation Street, Nicholas co-launched a short-lived magazine about soaps and has also co-hosted a show on Peak FM in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
His other television roles have included playing the character of a golf professional Barry Scripps in ITV’s Heartbeat.
In 2012, he took part in a sold-out Canadian theatre tour, Tales from the Street, which saw him and other Coronation Street stars talk candidly about the soap.
Nicholas has also appeared in a number of pantos, including Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin and Cinderella.
He landed a guest role on BBC’s Doctors playing a debt-ridden dad, Dean Telford, who owes money to a local businessman Erik Forbes (Daniel Rabin) who runs a protection racket.
Dean has no choice but to use his pizza business to deal drugs to customers who ask for “extra toppings”.
Will Nicholas be returning to Coronations Street?
In 2018 he teased a potential return to the Cobbles on This Morning following several cameos throughout the years.
His character has returned for two short spells at the remarriage of his parents, Jim and Liz, and later being best man at his brother’s wedding.
Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield in 2018, Nicholas said that the door has been left open.
Holly said: “He went to Spain and then he never came back. He was never killed off, the door was left open, they go and visit him quite frequently.”
“Well I’m a good excuse for when everyone needs to go on a real holiday, they send them to Spain to go see me,” he said.
At the time, he was also supporting his 13-year-old daughter to take the spotlight as she auditioned for The Voice Kids.
