Downs Coronation Street

[Gob]

Fair play to him!!

Coronation Street bosses have signed a 26-year-old actor with Down's syndrome after discovering his talent during a disability workshop.



Liam Bairstow will join the cast as Alex, the nephew of Roy Cropper's new love interest Cathy Matthews, later this year.

Bairstow, who was formerly part of the Mind The Gap theatre group, has previously told how he would be delighted to join ITV.

Speaking last year, he said: 'I could never imagine leaving Mind the Gap, but if I did I would love to be on TV.

'I remember when ITV's Katherine Kelly visited Mind the Gap to congratulate our director Tim on the success of the company so I would love to be on ITV, maybe playing a Dingle in Emmerdale!'

The official Coronation Street Twitter account posted: 'Cathy's nephew Alex to be played by Liam Bairstow who was cast during ITV's #breakingthroughtalent #CorriePressDay.'

Producers found Bairstow at a recent workshop held for actors with disabilities and he has already been filming episodes for the long-running soap.

Confirming the signing, show producer Stuart Blackburn said: 'We ran a workshop called Breaking Through a while ago, which was for actors with disabilities.

'It was recognising that they get so few auditions, and actually we found a young guy there called Liam Bairstow, an actor with Down's syndrome.

'He's going to be coming in as Cathy's nephew. It's not some politically correct thing. We actually found there a really great actor with a wonderful sense of timing

k

[MajGenl.Meade]

Oh dear... I'm happy for this young man but he's going to make the folks from Manchester look a bit thick

[Gob]

:

[Daisy]

Oh dear... I'm happy for this young man but he's going to make the folks from Manchester look a bit thick

Frig off Meade!