Coronation Street star Michael Le Vell may feel like a dear friend to viewers having played Kevin Webster for almost four decades. The actor joined the ITV soap in 1983 as the mechanic and it'd be fair to say he hasn't looked back since.
Michael, from Newton Heath, has seen his character at the centre of some of the long-running programme's biggest storylines over the years - from his on-and-off relationship and marriage with Sally and his affairs with Natalie Horrocks and Molly Dobbs to the tragic death of his son, Jake, and subsequently fathering Molly's son Jack.
But as he approaches 40 years in the iconic soap, it appears there are two people the soap star would like to see back on the cobbles - his on-screen daughters.
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Kevin and Sally share two children, Rosie and Sophie. Rosie, played by Helen Flanagan, was last seen in the soap in 2018 before heading off on maternity leave to welcome her second child, daughter Delilah, who is now three. She has since gone on to have a son, Charlie, who recently turned one, and is also mum to six-year-old Matilda with footballer fiancé Scott Sinclair.
Meanwhile, Sophie actress Brooke Vincent is no longer under contract with Corrie but the door has been left open for her character to return after Sophie left in the back of a taxi to go travelling in 2019. The 29-year-old's exit coincided with the birth of her first son, Mexx, in October 2019.
Brooke and fiancé Kean, who started dating in 2016 and got engaged last month, welcomed their second child Monroe in May last year. She previously said she's enjoying spending time being mum to her two boys and has admitted to not quite knowing when she'll come back to Corrie.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News and other press about his 40th anniversary on the soap next year, Michael said of still playing Kevin after all this time: "I love it. I absolutely love it. What's not to like? I've been blessed with the actors I've been put with which makes my job so much easier.
"It's not like coming into work working with them... Sally Dynevor and Sally Carman and Joe Duttine as well. I've been blessed with the people I've had." He then said: "It's just a shame Helen and Brooke decided to leave to have babies."
While his on-screen family may look different now, Michael says he's still "proud" to be a part of the show's biggest storylines. "I'm always proud," the 57-year-old said. "No matter what scripts you get I'm just proud to be a part of the show. It's a fantastic place to work and the fact they're still using me, it gives you a good worth in yourself. They think you're doing a decent job and that's all I want to do, do my best and hopefully the viewers like it."
In more recent times Corrie viewers have watched Kevin strike up a relationship with Abi Franklin. After a few wobbles, the pair finally tied the knot in November. However, their marital bliss didn't last when Kevin discovered Abi had cheated on him during her son Seb's murder trial last year.
Since then drug addict Abi relapsed and prematurely gave birth to a surprise baby boy, who she named Alfie, despite not knowing she was pregnant. While Kevin has been unable to forgive Abi after discovering Imran Habeeb was Alfie's dad, he has been seen being more sympathetic to the new mum as she fights for custody.
Asked if he thinks Kevin has ever regretted getting involved with Abi, Michael told us: "You know what, not one bit. I think she's brought a different dimension to him and she's exciting to him because he doesn't know what he's going to get from her from one day to the next. I think that keeps him on his toes and stops him getting bored."
But he does admit he doesn't know if Kevin can be a dad again. "He loves her and what you love someone, you see through their flaws. He's seen the regrets over the twins and what she went through with Seb, he know she's going to be a good mum." He then added with a laugh: "I don't know whether Kevin is up for being a good dad again."
