Coronation Street has announced that a familiar face will be returning to the cobbles next year following a health scare last year.
Coronation Street has announced that Malcolm Hebden is heading back to the cobbles after taking a break to recover from a heart attack.
ITV told Digital Spy that everyone on the show was looking forward to having him back.
The actor, who plays legendary Norris Cole, won't be on screen until May next year, but the news that he's heading back to Weatherfield will delight fans, who have missed the popular character.
A cast member reportedly told The Sunday Mirror: "I was so pleasantly surprised to see him. It has been a long battle back to fitness, but he looks better than I could have imagined.
"He looks really well, it's going to be great to have him back. The show has missed him. We've missed him."
The newspaper claims that the 78-year-old actor visited the Corrie studios in Manchester a few weeks ago to discuss his gradual return in the new year.
Speaking of his heart attack which left him fighting for his life, Malcolm told the Blackpool Gazette: “I was informed by my doctor I had had at least one heart attack. I was sent to hospital by emergency ambulance to Blackburn hospital and was there one night.
“While there I collapsed and was taken to Blackpool Victoria – where I was operated on, in a procedure which was described by my surgeon as ‘ground-breaking’.
“The heart attack tore a hole in my heart, they operated and took a chance.”
The operation was so ground-breaking that it saw his heart being wallpapered to repair the damage caused using tissue from a cow. The actor then spent almost a month in coma with him coming round in January this year and eventually being discharged the following month.
Malcolm is full of praise for the care he received, revealing that he almost didn't survive... “Fortunately I didn’t realise how bad it was; I was dying.”
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV.
Picture credits: Malcolm Hebden as Norris Cole: ITV/REX/Shutterstock.
