Les Battersby: Last News

Coronation Street star Vicky Entwistle has revealed she's thinking about "retiring" from acting. The actress, who played Janice Battersby in the ITV soap for 14 years, has announced she's planning on ditching showbiz after not receiving feedback from directors after attending auditions.

Coronation Street star Bruce Jones has revealed his latest career move after exiting the ITV soap in 2007. In a surprise move, the soap star has swapped acting for wrestling - at the age of 71. Bruce made his wrestling debut on Saturday, 18 February at the Trinity Sports Centre in Manchester.

The actor who played Les Battersby in Coronation Street, Bruce Jones, has had quite a journey since his time on the soap; from being homeless and battling alcohol addiction to landing roles in Hollywood, he's seen it all over the years. On the show, Les Battersby and his family were notorious for causing chaos on the cobbled streets of Weatherfield, but they quickly became soap legends when they burst onto our screens back in 1997.

Former Coronation Street star Bruce Jones, who played Les Battersby in the long-running ITV soap in over 1,000 episodes, is swapping the cobbles for the wrestling ring as he prepares to make his wrestling debut at age 70.The actor is set to make his debut in Manchester next year under the SOVPRO wrestling banner, with the organisation confirming the news on social media.They wrote: "This is not a drill.This is not a parody. From the infamous cobbles of Weatherfield, The Champion of the Rovers Return, THE Les Battersby makes his SOVPRO debut on Feb 18th." Bruce himself also confirmed the news, posting on social media: "Come and join the wrestlers and me as Les 18th February 2024 for my debut with SOVPRO." The news sparked a flurry of comments from wrestling fans, with many making light-hearted remarks about Bruce's on-screen character.

Bruce Jones was famed for his role as Les Battersby on the hit ITV soap Coronation Street.

Coronation Street fans have been on the edge of their seats over the past few weeks after the arrival of new residents Courtney and Darren Vance.

CORONATION Street legend Charles Dale looks unrecognisable as he reveals his surprising new career. The former soap star, 59, is best remembered for his role as Dennis Stringer in Corrie. He joined the long-running ITV show back in 2000 and remained on the cobbles for two years.

Coronation Street, as Les Battersby actor Bruce Jones kept asking them for photographs at every gig.Speaking exclusively to Daily Star ahead of the release of Status Quo's new album, Quo-ing In: The Best Of The Noughties, Francis explained how the band wound up appearing in the soap because of Bruce."As with everything in your career, it's like wow, because I really didn't want to do it," said Francis.READ NEXT: Rock icon Carl Palmer says 'anything could have gone wrong' as he remembers landmark gig"I don't want to do anything. I'm terrible.

Coronation Street fans will remember the chaos which was caused by Les Battersby when he arrived in Weatherfield in 1997 alongside his wife Janice, his daughter Leanne and stepdaughter Toyah.Turning the famous cobbles on its head with his menacing and conniving ways, Les, played by actor Bruce Jones, bought a touch of humour to the long-running ITV soap.With the chaotic family causing chaos on the street, it was Les who was known to push boundaries and to take things a step too far.One of the character's more memorable moments saw him headbutt Ken Barlow after he wrongly believed he was trying to seduce Toyah while Ken helped her with her additional English tuition.Following Janice and Les' infamous split due to Janice finding love with Dennie Stringer, Les also formed a new relationship with Chesney and Fiz's mum, Cilla Brown.But in 2007, actor Bruce faced suspension from Corrie after it came to light that he had told an undercover reporter about upcoming storylines and made inappropriate comments about the programme.Though he was a staple character at the time, it was later announced that he would not be returning to the show.Following his departure from the ITV soap, Bruce worked as a roadie for Irish tribute band ZZ Top O'The Morning.

Lorraine Kelly was left apologising to Coronation Street star Georgia Taylor following an accidental marriage slip-up. The Toyah Battersby actress appeared live on the presenter's self-titled ITV show on Friday live from her character's home on the cobbles.

He played one of the most controversial characters on Coronation Street in the early 2000s but actor Charles Dale's life is much more normal now. The 59-year-old played Dennis Stringer from 2000 to 2002, a biker and friend of Les Battersby who was infamous for cheating on his partner with his friend's missus - and eventually leaving partner Eileen Grimshaw for Les Battersby's wife Janice. Charles' character Dennis later attempted to take his own life on New Year's Day, only to survive his attempt but tragically die soon after in a car accident.

Neighbours star Hannah Martin and was involved in several high profile storylines including the death of her mum Julie.The actress was eight years old in 1992 when she first appeared on the show as Hannah Martin, and played the character for seven years until 1999.But since then she has ditched acting and taken a very different path in life.Rebecca tried her hand at being model in the earlies 2000s - which saw her feature in a number of steamy photoshoots, including posing provocatively in a boob-baring suede halter top and a belt-like mini-skirt.She also returned to Neighbours for a brief cameo in 2005 and starred in a few episodes of Coronation Street in 2002 as an Aussie backpacker who lived with Les Battersby. After moving away from acting she had a full-time job as a receptionist at Warner Bros Records.

Coronation Street fans watched as Toyah Battersby found out the mother of all secrets this week - that her cheating partner Imran Habeeb is the father of Abi Webster's baby boy. The Underworld worker and councillor tore strips off the solicitor after finding out the news from Abi's husband Kevin. He found the birth certificate for baby Alfie at Abi's flat and quickly left before informing Toyah who was heading to an adoption meeting with Imran about Elsie, the little girl they have been fostering.

Coronation Street fans were stunned to see soap actor Bruce Jones, who played Les Battersby, appear in an ITV documentary about the Yorkshire Ripper.The Corrie legend became caught up in the viscous murders when he found a dead body while working on an allotment in the late 1970s. Peter Sutcliffe, the notorious serial killer was only charged for a handful of his despicable murders, which ITV explored in a new documentary on Wednesday 23 February titled Yorkshire Ripper: The Secret Murders. For the first time, the programme also linked 20 unsolved murders and attempted murders to Sutcliffe, along with the murder of 13 women and attempted murder of 7 women that he was charged with from 1975 to 1980.

Former Coronation Street star Bruce Jones has spoken about the moment he discovered a body believed to be that of a Yorkshire Ripper victim.

Coronation Street this week, after reminding her that her sister Kate Connor was entitled to a share of Johnny's inheritance.Kate Connor was the daughter of the late Johnny Connor, who died after he tried to save wife Jenny during super soap week.Following the death of her own partner in 2019, Kate Connor left the ITV cobbles and has not been seen since, not even making an appearance at her own dad's funeral later last year.Her absence from the funeral and the soap left fans confused, but she's not the only character to have seemingly disappeared from Coronation Street throughout the years.Daily Star looks at other characters who have vanished from the cobbles and have not been heard from since, and whether they might return in the future.Fiz and Chesney's mum, Cilla Battersby-Brown, caused a huge drama when she caught the eye of Les Battersby in 2003 while working as a barmaid in the Rovers Return.After Les decided to leave wife Janice, he and Cilla got married, but sadly their romance was not to last when he slept with ex-wife Janice and later left to join a ZZ Top tribute band.In 2007, Cilla suddenly left her children in Weatherfield after deciding to move away from the cobbles - with no reason or explanation as to why.The mystery of Cilla's dissapearance was later solved when Fiz and Chesney visited their mother in South Africa during the Out of Africa Coronation Street specials, where Cilla was now living.Despite the character making a brief return in 2014, Cilla has not been seen since and is not mentioned by Fiz whatsoever in the soap.The only reference to Cilla is Chesney's occasional visits to see her - leaving viewers wondering what happened to Cilla and whether she will ever return to Weatherfield.However

It may well be an unlikely pairing, but Kerry Katona is teaming up with former Corrie character Les Battersby for one of this year's much-anticipated pantomimes.

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Coronation Street favourite Fiz Brown first arrived in Weatherfield on April 20, 2011.The bubbly knicker-stitcher, played by Jennie McAlpine, initially appeared as a troubled teenager briefly fostered by Roy (David Neilson) and Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh) at the age of fifteen.She leaves and then returns to Coronation Street, and starts working at the Underworld factory.Her mother, Cilla (Wendi Peters) and her little brother, Chesney (Sam Aston) are introduced when they come to live on the street with Les Battersby (Bruce Jones).Fiz's personality has taken some rapid transformations over the years.

CORONATION Street's Bruce Jones has paid tribute to Johnny Briggs after his death, saying "we’ve lost a TV legend". The Les Battersby actor exclusively told The Sun he was deeply saddened by the news that Johnny had passed away.

If you’re a die-hard Coronation Street fan then you may well remember Bruce Jones who played the part of Les Battersby.The actor left his role as the taxi river in 2007, but what has been up to since? Let’s take a look… Get exclusive celebrity stories and fabulous photoshoots straight to your inbox with OK's daily newsletter . You can sign up at the top of the page.