ITV launch bid for huge Coronation Street star to return to soap full time amid crisis on the cobbles
ITV made a play for Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas to turn his cameo into a permanent return.
Soap insiders have revealed the actor is in high demand at the channel – and Corrie bosses were hopeful he would extend his upcoming cameo stint.
The Sun was the first to reveal Ryan is making a comeback nine years after quitting the cobbles.
Ryan, 40, was back filming scenes in the same week his new ITV gameshow with brother Adam Thomas launched.
The actor – who plays Jason Grimshaw in the ITV soap – agreed to a limited return to give on-screen mum Sue Cleaver a fitting send off as Eileen – despite soap bosses’ hopes of making it more long-term.
It comes as the longest-running soap opera reached crisis point – with some of the nation’s best loved stars poised to quit before they are axed after after ITV dramatically slashed its schedule.
Bosses hoped Ryan could help keep fans loyal to the soap despite the recent changes, with a source telling The Sun: “Ryan’s return has been on the cards for a while.
“There were hopes he would come back on a more permanent basis but it’ll always be dependent on whether Ryan wants to go back or not.
“ITV have been buttering him up to return by giving him and his brother a new game show to host.
“They want to make him to know how much they value him.”
Ryan first appeared on the cobbles in 2000 and stayed for 16 years before quitting the show.
His character Jason was last seen in 2016 but has been mentioned frequently over the years with news of his life in Thailand.
He went on to appear in Aussie soap Neighbours and win both Celebrity Big Brother and Dancing on Ice.
He’s now working on 99 To Beat – a Saturday-night entertainment show with his brother Adam – best known as Waterloo Road’s Donte Charles, and Emmerdale’s Adam Barton.
In 2021, Ryan announced he was quitting acting after struggling to deal with rejection in the industry.
He told Mancs on the Mic podcast: “I started off acting, I started off in that game and I really lost the bug for it.
“I feel the reason for losing the bug is rejection and going to auditions and not getting them.”
Ryan also found trolling on social media made him retire from the acting world.
“I never got it in Corrie because I never had social media when I was in Corrie,” he said.
“If I did, it was at the end but I was so established there that people saw me as fixtures and fittings, so I never really got that sort of negative criticism.
“It happens in all aspects but I just found it really, really hard to deal with at first.
“I always think, ‘Oh, it’ll [the desire to act] come back at some point and maybe it will, and it’s still something that I have in my locker if I want to explore it again.”
However, his decision to briefly return to Coronation Street for Sue Cleaver’s exit from the show was said to be a “no-brainer”.
She has played his character’s mum, Eileen Grimshaw, for 25 years.
Last week, Ryan filmed his scenes for Eileen’s exit, which set to air later this year.
He was then spotted out with his co-stars at Colson Smith‘s leaving do.
The police themed party paid homage to Colson’s character PC Tinker and featured fancy dress, balloons and police tape at the tapas bar and restaurant El Gato Negro Tapas in Manchester.
Other Corrie co-stars who attended included Andy Whyment, Brooke Vincent, Georgia Taylor, Lucy Fallon, Jacobs Roberts, Tony Maudsley and Sam Aston.
A Coronation Street spokesperson said “Ryan has come back to the show for a guest appearance in Eileen’s departure storyline and we have enjoyed having him back on set.
“However there have been no further discussions about him returning in the future.”