CORONATION Street’s Bruce Jones has broken his silence after bosses decided to kill off Les Battersby.
The Sun on Sunday exclusively revealed how ITV soap bosses had taken the decision to kill off the iconic character in an upcoming storyline.
Les is set to die off-screen, 17 years after he was last seen on the Cobbles.
Actor Bruce, 71, played Les in Coronation Street for 10 years until he was suspended for allegedly getting drunk in a restaurant, insulting fans and revealing plots.
Les was written out as a consequence, but die-hard fans have always hoped the character would return one day, especially as his daughter Leanne and step-daughter Toyah are still in Weatherfield.
But in a new interview, Bruce revealed how he was told about Les’ demise in an email a fortnight ago.
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He said: “I actually thought, well fine, I played him for ten years. It gives me closure.
“Maybe it will stop people asking me all the time when I’m going back, if I’m going back.
“People want me back, but it’ll stop all that, in shopping centres, wherever I go.
“I’m pleased it’s happening but I’m also sad about losing a character I played for ten years. I’m grateful to the street for that.”
He added in the interview with the MailOnline that he had no animosity towards show bosses at all despite the sad decision.
Bruce also admitted he couldn’t see how Les would have fitted back into the show if bosses had ever decided to bring him back.
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He said: “I felt relieved, then I felt sadness, then I thought, ‘well, where would he go?’ If he went back, where would he go?
“How would he get back, what would he do? Where would the storylines take him?’
“I don’t think they could really do that much with him, which is a shame.”
Next month Les’s daughter Leanne, played by Jane Danson, receives a call telling her that her dad is dead. She then breaks the news to her sister Toyah (Georgia Taylor).
