A Coronation Street legend is returning to the soap (Image: ITV)
Ryan Thomas is reportedly making a triumphant return to nine years after his exit.
The actor, 40, shot to fame playing Jason Grimshaw on the ITV soap, making his first appearance in 2000. Jason remained a core part of the Cobbles until his departure in 2016.
Five years later, Ryan announced that he had retired from acting. However, he is set to step back into the shoes of Jason as part of ‘s exit storyline.
Sue, 61, has portrayed Eileen Grimshaw – Jason’s mum – since 2000. Ryan is believed to start filming later this month, coinciding with Sue’s departure.
A source told : “It was a no-brainer for Ryan to return when he was asked – it’s all for Sue. She’s like a second mum to him and he was willing to do anything to make her send off as special as she deserves it to be.
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Ryan Thomas is reprising his role as Jason Grimshaw (Image: ITV)
Ryan’s return coincides with Sue Cleaver’s exit (Image: ITV)
“He’s not acted for a while so it’s a bit daunting but he played Jason for so long that he’s looking forward to going back to the cobbles.”
After his exit from , Ryan landed the role of Rafael Humphreys in Australian soap Neighbours. He also starred in reality competitions Celebrity Big Brother and Dancing on Ice, both of which he won.
Ryan opened up about his decision to retire from acting on the Mancs on the Mic podcast in 2021, admitting: “It’s so hard for me. I started off acting, I started off in that game and I really lost the bug for it.”
The former soap star continued: “I feel the reason for losing the bug is rejection and going to auditions and not getting them.” Because he landed the role 25 years ago, Ryan didn’t experience the intense social media scrutiny that several actors face now.
He explained: “I’ve never had that before because social media wasn’t around. I never got it in because I never had social media when I was in .
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Ryan’s return coincides with Sue Cleaver’s exit (Image: ITV)
“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.”
Ryan confessed he found losing his passion for acting “really hard” to deal with, adding: “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. Right now I’m really happy with the direction I’m going.”
But Ryan is coming out of retirement to bid farewell to Sue, who announced that she would be leaving the soap after 25 years in January.
“I’ve had 25 privileged years of working on ,” she said. “The door is still firmly open but as I reached my 60th year, I decided it was time to embrace change, look for new adventures and live fearlessly.”