Coronation Street legend Malcolm Hebden made a surprise return to set over four years after his exit from the ITV soap.

The Norris Cole actor joined Chesney Brown star Sam Aston on the set of Roy’s Rolls for a chat about Sam’s early days on the show.

During a segment on Dancing on Ice, Sam revealed how Malcolm had taken him under his wing as a young actor, having been only 10-years-old on his first day at work.

‘I did a lot of scenes as a youngster with a guy called Malcolm Hebden, who played Norris Cole, and he really watched out for me,’ he told skating partner Molly Lanaghan.

‘Off-screen, we became very close, and are still to this day. He became a bit of a granddad figure to me.’

Sam then joined Malcolm on the Corrie set, where they reminisced about their early days working together, both claiming to ‘remember it well’.

They mentioned how on-screen characters Chesney and Norris ‘didn’t gel at all’, but how off-screen, their relationship was totally different.

As they laughed about how Sam used to get away with prompting Malcolm on his lines, Malcolm recalled Sam often asking for his advice, though not always taking it.

‘One thing I remember that you’d said was know your lines and don’t be late… And they’re two things that I’ve tried to carry on,’ Sam revealed.

Before saying their goodbyes, Malcolm affectionately referred to Sam as his surrogate grandson, with Sam admitting that he has ‘wonderful memories’ of growing up on Coronation Street.

Malcolm’s character Norris was a Corrie mainstay between 1994 and his final episode in 2020.

Known as the local gossip, he often caused chaos among his neighbours.

From being one of the only locals suspicious of serial killer Richard Hillman, to suspecting that the Kabin stock room was haunted, Norris had a wide array of storylines during his time on the cobbles.

In 2021, Norris died of a stroke off-screen. In the years that followed, Norris was posthumously a victim of fraud when Ed Bailey (Trevor Michael Georges) used his credit card.

Fans were thrilled to spot Malcolm’s return to the Coronation Street set, with Sean saying on Twitter/X: ‘The best thing about tonight’s Dancing On Ice is that it brought back Malcolm Hebden. Please can Norris Cole return as a ghost in Corrie next?’

‘Great to see Norris looking so well,’ another said, ‘Gutted Corrie killed him off.’

Several Coronation Street characters have returned to the soap from beyond the grave in recent months.

Over the festive period, Gail Platt was visited in a dream by Richard Hillman, and Abi Webster (Sally Carman) has been haunted by hallucinations of dead son Seb Franklin (Harry Visinoni).

Could Norris be the next dead character to be spotted on the cobbles?