After his last appearance in March, Coronation Street star Will Mellor, who started the ITV serial opera three years ago as Harvey Gaskell, has hinted that he does not want to return to the character.
Former cast member Will Mellor has revealed why he doesn’t want to reprise his role on Coronation Street again after having briefly returned to the show earlier this year.
The actor, 48, made several appearances on the ITV soap opera as imprisoned Harvey Gaskell between January and March. It marked his return after being absent from Corrie last year, following previous appearances in 2021 and 2022.
Will shared his thoughts on the possibility of returning again for another stint as drug lord Harvey in an interview recently. He spoke about the long-running TV show whilst promoting his collaboration with Smart Energy GB.
Opening up about the character, Will shared that his first stint on Corrie had been for the week-long special ‘Horror-Nation Street,’ which aired in October 2021. His character Harvey, who had been introduced earlier that year, ended up killing Natasha Blakeman (played by Rachel Leskovac) in a case of mistaken identity due to a Halloween costume.
Harvey, who had escaped from prison prior to the murder, was later sent back behind bars. He was then visited by Natasha’s son Sam Blakeman (Jude Riordan) in 2022 and returned again earlier this year, still in prison, for a storyline that involved his brother Damon Hay (Ciarán Griffiths).
When asked if he would be open to reprising the role in the future, Will began by telling us just last week: “I don’t like to overdo things and when I first played Harvey it was going in for [the special]. And I thought that was gonna be the end.
“[Then] they said ‘we want him to come back for a bit’ so I looked at the storyline and it was about [Sam] wanting to ask questions why he’d killed his mum and why he behaved the way he behaved. I thought that was really interesting. It was like this tough exterior guy and he gets unpacked by this young kid, and he makes him look at himself.”
Will went on to share: “This kid got under his skin. I thought it was really interesting through those scenes, but I think I’ve done everything I need to do with it and sometimes you can do too much and keep going back. And it sort of weakens the character and weakens the storyline, and I don’t want to do that. Sometimes it’s better to leave it where it is.”
The actor – who also spoke about the prospect of joining rival soap Emmerdale – told us that he had “really enjoyed” playing Harvey. Will, who grew up in Greater Manchester, also teased: “I was thinking [before I got the job that I was] probably the only Northerner never to do Corrie.”
Asked if it was daunting joining the show, which meant a lot to his mum, Will said in the interview: “It wasn’t daunting, because I knew what I wanted to do with [Harvey]. It was more … like a ticking off a box that you really wanted to tick and I’d never been able to.” He explained: “Being a Northern actor and not doing [Corrie] – so it was really nice.”
Will spoke to us in partnership with Smart Energy GB, an organisation that helps households and small businesses to understand how smart meters can benefit them. It has joined forces with Energy Advice Helpline for a campaign to raise awareness amid energy bills concerns in the UK.
“I think everybody knows the energy prices [have] gone up and how people are struggling here and there,” he said. Will added that he has found it “very easy” using a smart meter, which is a device that measures gas and electricity usage, as well as showing families their consumption and the cost.
He said: “I can see what we’re spending, I can see where my budget is and we can accommodate to keep it in budget. I think for people who have got bills that they’re struggling to pay, it can help. Because you can keep an eye on it and you’re not getting shocked by bills at the end of the month.”
Will added: “I’ve got big bills [and] I used to bury my head in the sand and then see the bill at the end of the month and then I’d go mad.” He said that now being able to keep an eye on the data prevents him from “stressing” each month and allows his family, which includes his two children, to make changes to address any increases in usage.
The actor commented: “You can save energy here and there, and now the kids now actively turn things off and unplug things […] It can help you save, even if it’s a little bit, it all helps.” He said: “It’s something you can see. And when you can see it, you can make changes to make it better.”
