He's one of Coronation Street's most iconic characters but Kirk Sutherland wasn't originally called Kirk at all. The character, played by Andy Whyment, has appeared on the cobbles for over two decades, but it appears actress Samia Longchambon hasn't always known her on-screen brother's name.
The discovery comes as Classic Corrie continues to air on ITV3 and is watched by the most loyal of the ITV soap's fans.
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Kirk's first appearance on the cobbles was actually as a walk-on actor in May 2000 before Andy joined the soap officially in October the same year. A couple of years later Kirk became Les Battersby's lodger in 2002 and in 2007 he went solo when Les and new wife Cilla Brown left and house-shared with his ex-girlfriend Fiz Brown and brother Chesney.
But those who have stuck with the Salford-based soap for all these years and caught an episode of Classic Corrie were quick to spot Maria call Kirk a different name in their earlier scenes.
Baffled by the revelation, the Mirror report s that one fan took to Twitter to say: "Watching the old Corrie’s and I’m confused. Maria told Tyrone her brother was called Mark. Thought Kirk was her brother?" Another said: "I had to look it up to see if there was another brother but all I can find is Kirk?"
While a third wrote: "My theory is that they hadn’t decided he would be a regular character at this point, and when they decided to bring him back they changed his name to avoid confusion with Mark Redman." According to Corriepedia, "Mark" Sutherland was a one-off before the hit show's bosses decided to make Kirk a permanent character.
Salford-born actor Andy, 40, has cemented himself as a firm favorite among Corrie viewers over the years having spent 22 years in the role. However, his first credited part was in Cracker in 1993 and he also had minor roles in The Cops, Heartbeat and Where the Heart Is before appearing as Darren Sinclair-Jones in the BBC hit sitcom The Royle Family before landing the role of Kirk.
Then, in 2019, Andy captured fans' hearts further when ha appeared in the nineteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! where he finished in second place to Jacqueline Jossa.
