Simon O'Brien got fans talking last month what he made a return to the small screen as Coronation Street's newest character. The actor made his debut in the ITV soap on May 27 as Frank Bardsley.
The character made his way into the Rovers Return where he got chatting to barman Sean Tully About his experiences in the online dating world as he waited for his next date to show up for a drink. Frank joked about swiping the wrong on his apps meaning he keeps meeting men that he really isn't really interested in.
So, Sean agreed to help Frank cut his latest date short by pretending to be a disgruntled love interest. But when he date wasn't having any of it, the Underworld machinist commented that Frank had a strange rash 'down there' which soon saw his date scupper.
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Later, Sean tracked Frank down and asked him for a date, meaning Corrie viewers are set to see more of him. And, recent spoilers have revealed that he has a link to another Weatherfield resident. Frank will come face-to-face with George Shuttleworth leaving the undertaker horrified as he used to be bullied by him in school.
Simon's first appearance in the soap mainly got people talking as they quickly recognised him for his past soap role. The actor, from Garston, Liverpool, played Damon Grant in Channel 4 soap Brookside from its inception in 1982 until 1987. Damon was introduced as the youngest son of Bobby and Sheila Grant. played by Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston.
Speaking about how he landed the role of Damon, Simon told New Sound Generation: "I got a day off school to go to the audition. I only went coz it meant I could get off double maths and that’s really the reason why I went."
However, he was killed off in York but it happened in style as it was part of a three-part special spin-off series entitled, Damon and Debbie. Long after his role in Brookie, Simon appeared in the British version of Fraggle Rock. Between 1989 and 1990 he portrayed BJ the Lighthouse Keeper in the musical puppet TV series.
He also presented the first three series of children’s quiz show, I Can Do That, which was broadcast on ITV and has also co-presented BBC One show To Buy or Not to Buy. But acting was never too far away as in 2003, he joined the cast of iconic school drama, Grange Hill, playing caretaker Wally Scott.
But before all that, Simon actually took a break from the acting world and he and business partner Alan Bate, set up the Liverpool Cycle Centre, which consisted of a vegetarian café and bicycle shop, complete with places to park the two-wheeled vehicles.
Fast forward to 2019 and the 56-year-old was appointed Li verpool City Council's first cycling champion after swapping the car for his beloved bike 35 years ago. The idea was that Simon would help to deliver the Metro Mayor’s vision for an active travel revolution across all six districts of the Liverpool city region.
Meanwhile, in more recent years, Simon has been on our screens presenting a variety of property-themed programme from hosting To Build or Not to Build to the reality show, My Dream Derelict Home and then Channel 4’s Find It, Fix It, Flog It.
And now it isn't just Corrie you'll see him in as since 2020, he has presented Bafta award-winning The Great House Giveaway with Tayo Oguntonade on Channel 4. But Simon has experience of this sort of thing. The 56-year-old is an experienced property developer who has renovated properties all over Europe.
It started as he began renovating houses in his spare time, with the house he has lived in all his adult life being the product of his own work.
