Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd has claimed that soap bosses ‘lied’ over Richard Hillman’s iconic exit storyline.

The villainous character met his demise in 2003 after a dramatic car crash into a canal, following a murder spree and an attempt to kidnap Gail Rodwell – who was his wife at the time – and her children.

During the latest episodes of his On the Sofa podcast, Shepherd dropped a major bombshell about Hillman’s exit while discussing EastEnders‘ interactive storyline for its 40th anniversary, which saw viewers decide whether Denise would end up Jack or Ravi.

“I think we did that actually, for the Hillman thing,” he said. “We said that we filmed three alternative endings. [One] where everyone died, where Gail died.”

The David Platt actor then claimed that the soap “didn’t” actually film alternative endings as they “didn’t have the time or the money”, adding: “We filmed one ending and that’s it.”

In December, Brian Capron made a ghostly return as Richard as part of Helen Worth’s exit as Gail, appearing in a dream sequence as his former wife faced a major decision on the eve of her wedding to Jesse Chadwick.

Speaking about his unexpected comeback, Capron said: “It was a lovely experience. They’ve written a very clever scene.

“It’s a very tricky thing to bring a character back from the dead, but I think the writers thought very carefully about how to do it and they’ve come up trumps.

“For me it’s got the right kind of dark humour, which there always was with Richard Hillman which I love, but also a slight hint of menace. I thought they balanced it perfectly.”