Antony Cotton was taken aback by Sue Cleaver's bond with another campmate on I'm A Celebrity.
The soap star is renowned for his role as Sean Tully on the Cobbles. He spoke to the ECHO at the grand unveiling of the new Weatherfield Precinct set.
The 47-year-old heaped praise on Sue for her performance on the latest season of TV's toughest entertainment challenge. He told the ECHO: "I'm very proud of how she did. I thought she did really well. To me, she came across really well and it was great to see her."
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Antony competed on the show in season 11 so wasn't surprised by what Sue had to endure in the jungle. However, he revealed he is also good friends with Mike Tindall and was wowed by how his two friends gravitated towards each other in the camp.
He said: "Weirdly, it's funny how the way the world works. The two people in that show that I'm mates with are Mike Tindall and Sue Cleaver. And they had an instant bond. It wasn't forced, him and her just partnered up. They're the two people that I text beforehand and wished good luck."
Antony said Sue is due to return to the Corrie set today when they will fully catch up on her time Down Under. Antony's onscreen counterpart has been unlucky in love on the show, but he revealed Sean's fortunes could soon be about to change with his character's relationship with Laurence the dentist.
He said: "He's temporarily happy with Laurence. Laurence has been played by a brilliant lad called Rob [Robert Shaw Cameron], who I love. We're going through a bit of a rocky patch because that's the storytelling part. Hopefully the uphill struggle might have a nice little view at the end of it. I love working with Rob and he is staying around for a little while.
"I'm sure it won't all be plain sailing. Christmas is OK. I'm just filming a thing at the moment, which is after Christmas where it goes a bit rocky again. It's nice to have him around and I'm hoping he's gonna stay around for a while."
Antony has been a mainstay on the show since he joined the cast in 2003. The Weatherfield universe expanded last week as the set for the new shopping centre location was revealed.
Antony was impressed by the construction and revealed the secret that makes the show continue to connect with new generations of people. He said: "We have a perfect mix of what television drama needs. The lightness and darkness are mixed together and packaged in a way that makes us accessible and understandable to an audience.
"That's the key to Coronation Street. Our stories pull at your heartstrings and they make you laugh and scream at the screen with a clenched fist when somebody does something wrong. Coronation Street has always managed to tie those elements together."
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