Bill Fellows has teased his Coronation Street character Stu Carpenter’s huge secret, saying it’s very “unexpected”.
In less than a year, Stu has become a fan-favourite, going from living on the streets to befriending the likes of Yasmeen Metcalfe (Shelley King) and Kelly Neelan (Millie Gibson) as his loveable personality shone through.
Recently, he has confided his sadness over losing contact with his daughter, and Yasmeen decided to do some digging to locate her for Stu. How that pans out remains to be seen; but in the meantime, Stu is holding back a massive secret.
When he was arrested for an attempted break-in, the police officer referenced his previous record, giving us a tiny clue that there was some kind of crime involved. And as Stu’s past is set to be unearthed, actor Fellows reveals there’s an almighty twist on the way that even he didn’t see coming.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other media, he tells us his initial reaction to Stu’s backstory.
“Iain [MacLeod, Coronation Street’s executive producer] rang me and told me what my past was, and I went ‘Whoa, whoa!’ I know I can’t say too much now, but I went ‘Whoa’, that was my reaction, like, ‘Oh, great!’
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Fellows adds that it’s a bombshell that could change everything for Stu.
“It was unexpected. I knew something was coming because we’d talked about it, but it was unexpected to the level it was, like [a] life-changing level. His past was much bigger than I envisioned, to be honest with you.”
Asked whether he thinks the audience’s opinion of Stu could change once the truth is revealed, he replies: “I think it will a little bit, yeah. Because it’s almost like, from an audience point of view, you’ve been told a lot of lies. [They] can forgive you once – [but] eventually they build up, all these little things.
“I think the audience are going to be shocked, really surprised… Who are you going to be believe? What’s going on? There’s lots of discussions, I think. Without giving the game away, there’s going to be loads of that about what you feel, what you don’t feel.”
These cryptic clues may not give much away, but it’s certainly enough to make you want to tune in as Coronation Street builds towards Stu’s past exploding!
Fellows can’t tell us any more for now, but he does add what it was that made him like his character in the first place.
“I think you’ve got to like to play your character as an actor,” the star muses. “And I like [Stu]. And I like him because of his flaws, actually. That’s what I like most about him, that he struggles trying to be a good person, and he gets himself into all sorts of trouble because of it, but he tries! And I think there’s something lovely about that. If you’re flawed, people can relate to someone that’s flawed.
“I think he’s got a very strong moral compass; but he’s not perfect, none of us are. That’s what I like about it. None of us are perfect and we see that side to him.”
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