Last seen reducing gullible Gail to heartbreak, Lewis left the Street in spectacular fashion after cleaning out her bank account and fleeing the country.

But speaking on Daybreak this morning, Nigel Havers has revealed that he wouldn't rule out another appearance on the cobbles for the charming conman.

'Never say never'

He said, speaking about the likelihood of Corrie writers bringing the character back.

'It would be tricky. I would be lynched, wouldn't I? I think I'd have to come back having won the lottery and pay everybody back! I'd love to go back, actually. It's just one of those great shows to be part of. I can't tell you how much fun it is.'

Currently writing a sitcom with Julian Clary, Havers won 'Best Exit' at the British Soap Awards last week. Acknowledging the win, he said:

'The scriptwriters on that show are fantastic. To win an award is amazing, really. They don't often come along! I'm chuffed.'

For the sake of his own safety, we hope Lewis doesn't return - we don't think Audrey and Gail would be fooled a second time.

Corrie scooped a brilliant eight prizes at the British Soap Awards, compared with rival EastEnders which won just one.

Awards included best soap, best storyline for the Kirsty - Tyrone abuse storyline, best actor for Alan Halsall and best dramatic performance and villain for Natalie Gumede. Patti Clare - quirky Mary - stole best comedy performance, while Nigel Havers won best exit after dastardly Lewis swindled £40,000 from Gail and fled to Belize.

Hollyoaks won five trophies, Emmerdale won two and EastEnders' only honour was a lifetime achievement for Adam Woodyatt, who's played miserable Ian Beale for an amazing years. Corrie won three of the five awards to be voted for by the public - including the top prize for best soap - and the other winners were chosen by a panel.

Malcolm Hebden accepted the best soap award surrounded by his co-stars, saying:

'We're all thrilled and the public have voted for us so we must be doing our job properly.
Thank you the public. We love you.'

Well done to everyone at Corrie: here's to another year of drama, laughs and tears, and hopefully more well-deserved awards.

It's forever the preserve of the media to be fascinated by the love lives of celebrities, and further to speculations on Michael Le Vell dating Emma Dodd, the red tops are now reporting on a second romance for the actor.

Previously said to be 'inseparable,' Dodds has now been left 'inconsolable' by the news that Le Vell has now been linked to another woman, Blanca Fouche. According to friends, Emma - who is an avid Manchester United like Le Vell - dated the Corrie actor after he split from his wife and before he got together with Blanca.

Blanca, 31, who is originally from Chile, confirmed to the Mirror last week that she and Le Vell - who has been written out of the ITV soap until the conclusion of his trial - are indeed an item.

Thankfully both women have thus far declined to comment on the tangle - and I'm sure Le Vell currently has much more sobering things on his mind.

A FORMER Commonwealth Games judo competitor decided to grow cannabis after watching Sylvia eat hash cakes on Corrie.

John Ashley Griffiths, 50, of Llanelli, decided to try growing the plants as self-medication to relieve the pain of his chronic arthritis.

Officers attending the address in South Wales found nine 12-inch tall cannabis plants under an electric grow lamp, and Mr Griffiths later voluntarily visited Llanelli Police Station to be interviewed in relation to the offence.

After his court hearing, Griffiths told the Star: 'It was a genuine thing for the relief of pain. I saw the storyline of Roy's mother in the cafe and thought it might help.'

Magistrates fined Griffiths £75, ordered him to pay £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge, and also made an order for the forfeiture and destruction of the cannabis.

But despite his court appearance, the judo expert still backed the Corrie plot, saying:

'I think the story was a good idea, it gives people an insight into cannabis.'

'I have got chronic arthritis at the top of my spine and it is purely for pain relief, it does give you pain relief.'

A spokeswoman for Coronation Street stated: 'We did make very clear via various characters throughout the short time this storyline was on screen that taking drugs is illegal and also has serious health implications.'

Bill Roache appeared in court yesterday accused of twice raping a 15-year old girl.

Arriving in a black Mercedes, Roache was escorted past reporters and photographers for his first court appearance since the much-publicised arrest on May 1st. District Judge Jane Goodwin granted bail on condition he lives at either his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, or a relative's address in London, and does not have unsupervised contact with anyone under 16 or contact two specifically named witnesses.

Some fans had queued from the early hours outside the courthouse to meet the Corrie star. Roache smiled as he signed autographs for the supporters, though declined to comment as he was driven away. ITV executives have said he will not be appearing in Corrie until legal proceedings have been completed.

A preliminary hearing - heard by Judge Anthony Russell QC - will be held at Preston Crown Court on June 10th.

Coronation actress Georgia May Foote has signed a new 12-month deal that will seal her place in the soap until May 2014. Show bosses were reportedly eager to keep Georgia in the cast, especially after the announcement that Michelle Keegan will be leaving the cobbles.

Following the departure of some of the soaps more glamorous actresses - including Katherine Kelly and Helen Flanagan - a 'source' said to The Sun:

'It is really brilliant news for everyone at Corrie that Georgia has agreed to stay on. She's a brilliant actress who has impressed everyone with the way she has taken to playing Katy.'

The 'source' continued:

'Losing Michelle will be a huge blow. The fact she's won Sexiest Female at the Soap Awards four years running shows just how popular she is. But Georgia has got a real chance of taking her crown this year, which would cement her place as a rising star.'

Georgia joined the soap in 2010, and recent storylines have seen her character Katy break up with Chesney Brown after having a fling with Ryan Connor.

Let's hope Katy and Chesney use the time to make up some of their recent differences!

Madame Tussards have taken the decision to temporarily remove a waxwork of Bill Roache because of 'inappropriate behaviour' from visitors, but have stated they will 'review the decision in light of future events'.

A Corrie spokesperson is yet to comment on the decision, but a source from the Blackpool museum said, 'We make no judgements on recent events, which are in any case far from clear, but over recent days we have received a number of comments relating to the continued inclusion of the figure, but even more importantly witnessed some unacceptable behaviour from a very small number of visitors'.

81 year old Roache, currently facing two historical charges of rape, is said to be 'astounded and deeply horrified' by the allegations, and released a statement earlier this month 'strenuously denying' the charges brought against him.

No idea what the visitors might have been doing to his waxwork: perhaps we're better off not knowing.

Oops. The latest Twitter gaff by a Corrie star may have revealed a couple of things that we're not supposed to know.

Simon 'Steve McDonald' Gregson posted a picture showing co-stars Kym Lomas, Alison King and Craig Charles eating peanuts in the new Rovers Return. While it may not seem too bad that we all get a glimpse of the new set, you can clearly see Tony Hirst in the background of the shot. As his character Paul is due to leave the soap in the next week, it raises the question of why he is in the shot. Is Paul not leaving the street after all?

The Sun is quoting a 'Corrie source' as saying: "The Twitter stuff has been getting out of hand recently, with people posting all kinds of photos which could be detrimental to the show. The bosses would rather people didn't know what the Rovers looks like ahead of time, and these snaps clearly blew that."

Of most concern to most viewers will probably be the idea that Paul is staying. We were all delighted to learn he'd be going!

The comedic double act Ken Morley and Sherrie Hewson are to be reunited onscreen for the first time since they played Reg and Maureen Holdsworth in Coronation Street when they appear together in ITV sitcom Benidorm.

The sixth series of Benidorm is currently being filmed and Sherrie returns in her regular role of hotel manager Joyce Temple Savage. Ken will arrive to play a guest spot on the show.

Benidorm writer Derren Litten recently tweeted about difficulties with a certain guest star on the show, saying: "All the guest actors we've had on the show, we've never had anyone unpleasant. I guess our luck had to run out at some point..."

We wonder who he can be referring to?

The Daily Mail are reporting that Corrie's Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) is set to turn knicker thief as she takes advantage of her job at the factory to offload stolen underwear to some shady characters.

The paper has a series of on-set pictures showing Tracy and a burly looking fella up to no good next to the Underworld delivery van. At one point she apparently checks that the man isn't wearing a surveillance device.

There were reports last week that Tracy will also be on the receiving end of a brutal attack from some thugs. Maybe the two things will be related?

Corrie's cafmeister general Roy Cropper is set to get a shock when he discovers that his dad has died.

Little is known about how Roy (David Neilson) discovers the news, but Inside Soap is reporting that he and wife Hayley (Julie Hesmondhalgh) have filmed scenes where the pair visit a graveyard.

Roy's dad is called St John and it seems that the gravestone will reveal that he only died in February this year, along with the inscription 'Father to Jonathan, Stephen, Isabelle and Royston'. Does this mean that we may be about to be meeting some of Roy's siblings?

Inside Soap quote an 'insider' as saying: "Roy has a lot of thinking to do - this is a whole side of his family he has no relationship with. It's a big step to make contact. Is Roy ready? It's clearly a sad moment for Roy as he lays some flowers down on the grave. Thankfully, Hayley is by his side to help him cope."

OK, to be fair, if you look into what William Roache actually said on New Zealand TV today, it isn't anything outrageous or even particularly contentious. Obviously, though, with what's gone on the last week or so the papers are looking for any excuse to jump on his head.

Under the headline 'Ken Barlow actor Bill Roache slams treatment of celebrities accused of sex crimes' The Mirror has decided that the misguided, hapless (and let's not forget aged) Corrie stalwart has put his foot in it again by saying that celebrities charged in the wake of the Savile furore have been 'pilloried' during an interview on a NZ breakfast show.

If you actually read what he said - that those accused of sex crimes should receive the same anonymity as their accusers - then it's hard to claim he stated anything different to what plenty of others are saying. When has that ever stopped the tabloids, though?

Elsewhere, apparently there are now Facebook and Twitter campaigns started by Corrie fans who are threatening to abandon the show unless Roache is removed. The claims are made by New! Magazine. We can't find any such campaigns, however.

The Daily Star today ran a front page story that Corrie stalwart William Roache has been shunned by his co-stars because of his recent comments regarding sex abuse victims. Reading through the story, though, there is very little of substance to back up the claims.

The paper says that the Corrie actors that attended the RTS awards ceremony on Tuesday night at which they won Best Soap refused to discuss Roache's comments to a New Zealand TV crew and that they are now planning to shun him when he returns t the set.

The evidence for this only amounts to Jennie McAlpine and Shobna Gulati not giving the paper a quote - which is quite understandable - and they then have a 'quote' from a 'source' saying that "he can expect a frosty welcome when he goes back to filming on the set."

So the whole thing is almost inevitably guff, then.

The fact is, though, that this is front page news displays how ill-judged William Roache's comments were and if ITV don't sort this thing out very soon we may find it rattling on for a while yet.

With the ink barley dry on Michael Le Vell's charge sheet, it may appear unseemly to be postulating so soon about how Corrie bosses will write his character Kevin Webster out of the soap but that hasn't stopped the tabloids from doing just that.

The most popular theory so far is that art will (sort of) copy life and Kevin will be sent to prison for his part in the Tyrone baby kidnap plot. The Mail are quoting an ITV source as saying: 'The bosses are considering a storyline that would see him jailed for helping Tyrone kidnap Ruby. There are other options but this route seems to be a favourite at the moment.'

Certainly the biggest problem the show's writers have is how to write out a character when the actor playing them is not able to shoot any scenes. In the past characters have fallen victim to offscreen deaths - Stan Ogden dying of (of all things) gangrene and Len Fairclough in a car accident - but to kill off Kevin would be extremely harsh on Le Vell, as he has not yet been proven guilty of any wrongdoing and could, in theory, return to the show at some stage.

The prison theory does seem like a very convenient mechanism for Kevin's removal, so if it happens expect scenes with policemen visiting Sally to break the news, Norris spreading the word in the Rovers, Tyrone becoming even more morose than usual as he guilt trips himself into despair and characters stopping Sally in the street for weeks afterwards to ask 'How's Kevin doing, Sal?'

ITV have issued a statement that appears to indicate that more than one character may perish in the upcoming fire that destroys the Rovers Return.

Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati) has been widely tipped to die in the blaze but this statement on the broadcaster's website seems to promise further deaths: "You may have read reports that the Rovers fire will claim lives. We can now exclusively reveal that more than one person could die in the blaze, which will take hold of the Rovers next month. Will landlady Stella fall victim to the fire? Could it be barmaid Tina? Fireman Paul? Bad guy Karl? Sunita? Gloria? Eva? Toyboy Jason? No one is safe from the killer flames..."

Here at Corrie Blog we think it's a double bluff. As the news of Sunita dying has got out, ITV are trying to keep some degree of intrigue about the fire so that they can spin out the publicity. We don't think anyone else will go.

The official ITV Twitter feed has also been 'leaking' images from the set showing the fire being shot. You can see some below.

Tyrone and Fiz may have only just skipped off with baby Ruby (and Hope, let's not forget Hope) but Jennie McAlpine has already been blabbing about how the runaway couple will be apprehended before they reach their intended Irish idyll.

Jennie spoke to What's On TV about how Ty and Fiz will be picked up by the fuzz while on the lam and tried to encourage viewers to start a Deidre Rachid-style 'Free Tyrone' campaign. "It's one of those great stories where the viewer also knows he's innocent," she said "maybe there will be a 'Free Tyrone' campaign!"

You may remember that in the late 90's Deidre Rachid (as was) was wrongly imprisoned for fraud and viewers got so worked up about the whole shebang that questions were even raised in parliament.

Will the same thing happen this time? Will people takes up Tyrone's cause and march in the streets with placards? Will ITV's publicity department continue to feed Corrie actors lines to plant in interviews. We reckon the answers are possibly, probably not and definitely.

Oops. It seems that Corrie's Kym Marsh/ Ryder/ Lomas accidentally posted a link to a porn site on her Twitter feed instead of a picture of her mum.

It appears that Michelle added a full stop to the front of a link to a picture of her mum and this changed the link so that her 260,000+ followers were offered a link to a site specialising in mothers of a very different kind altogether.

She quickly deleted the offending tweet, which is something of a pity as the rest of her timeline is mostly taken up with misspelled retweets and boring messages with far too made exclamation marks.

It's one of those weeks again where there isn't enough decent Corrie news going round to really get our teeth into. It's all little bits and bobs and gossip. So here's a quick summary of some of the lesser stories flying round at the moment.

Michelle Connor (according to The Sun) is going to be the new landlady of the Rovers after it is rebuilt after the fire which destroys it. So if it happens it won't happen for aaaaages yet. And then it probably won't.

When the Rovers is rebuilt after the fire it will be much bigger. Some papers are reporting that the pub will have more windows and extra room upstairs. Wells something has to happen. The Rovers has been like the Tardis for years now with the internal dimensions bearing no relation to what it looks like on the inside.

Shobna Gulati has got a new boyfriend. Good luck to her. No-one else's business so we'll leave it there.

Charlie Lawson, who played, Jim McDonald has got engaged. Not much of interest here, except it is being reported that in order to convince his fiancé-to-be to say yes he had to pop the question in the presence of Neil Morrissey. No idea why, but it seemed to work.

Oh, and Sophie Webster's wedding dress is up for sale on eBay. You've got 8 days left of you want to buy it (though why you would is a mystery), the bidding is currently just over £300. The whereabouts of Sian's dress is sadly unknown.

That's it for now. More breaking news and hot gossip as soon as something actually happens.

We all know by now that the newspapers need a new Michelle Keegan 'story' every couple of days, basically so they have an excuse to print a picture of her in a bikini. Today they must be in heaven as it would appear that Michelle has been on holiday and got a suntan, the perfect excuse to run a bikini pic if ever their was one.

The gist of this hot news is that she went on holiday with her new 'beau' Mark Something and got a bit too brown, so the Corrie crew had to blather all visible body parts in lightening make up.

So there we go, girl goes on holiday and comes home a bit tanned. There's the news. Not that we'd ever run something like that just as an excuse to accompany it with a picture of Michelle Keegan in a bikini. Oh, no, not us.

Several newspapers are today claiming that Corrie's Sunita 'How insanely quickly did I become a tart?' Alahan will be killed in a fire at the Rovers Return.

Shobna Gulati, who plays Sunita, is leaving the soap this year and it would seem that Sunita is believed to start the fire that kills her when she attempts to take revenge on her unreliable boyfriend Karl Munro (John Mitchie) for returning to past love and Rovers landlady Stella Price (Michelle Collins).

Various 'sources' and 'insiders' are wheeled out by the papers for quotes seemingly confirming the spring storyline and Sunita certainly has to be written out somehow, so maybe there is some truth in this rumour.

The Rovers burning down would also give producers an excuse for the pub looking so different when production moves to the new Salford Quays set. Maybe there will be a chain of fires before the move is all over.

He's got a cheek, hasn't he? Corrie's William 'Saucy Bill' Roache said last year that he used to be an insane trouser ferret who had bedded over 1,000 women in what was presumably a fairly hectic life, has been saying that sticking with one woman is a much better way to go about things.

Bill was married to his late wife Sara for 35 years, during which time he probably at least slowed down his philandering ways. Talking to Lorraine Kelly on her ITV show, he now says that monogamy is definitely preferable: "I had my day in the '60s, but I've had the double life - I've had the life of lots and lots of girlfriends and I've had a happy 35-year marriage. So I can be a judge of which is the best and there's no doubt a 35-year loving marriage is better - people might envy a lad about town, but it's not a happy state to be. If you're married to someone you love and who is really beautiful you could say you get lucky every night, whereas if you're a lad about town... who knows - some good and some bad."

Thank God we've got Bill to try both ways and then report back to us mere mortals!

The Standard are claiming that (to no-one's surprise) Nigel Havers and Natalie Gumede are leaving Coronation Street.

Quite honestly, both of their characters - Lewis Archer and Kirsty Soames - have been painted in corners and so their exits would come as no surprise. The Standard, though, have a couple of slightly weird quotes from a supposed 'source' and an 'insider'.

First up, the 'source' says: "There have already been rumours the new boss will want to put his stamp on things, but these two big changes are certain." If they are certain we'd have had a statement from ITV, they are actually very likely.

The 'insider' continued: "Talks on how Kirsty will leave are ongoing, but producers know the audience want her to get her deserts. One way or another, she will." We may be wrong but we think they may mean desserts, not deserts. Unless Kirsty is to be buried up to her neck in sand. Which might happen.

Finally, the insider says: "This could herald the start of a major new era for Corrie." We have no idea whatsoever what this could mean. None. Two relatively short-term, minor characters are leaving the show, it's not like the producers have decided to demolish the street and replace it with a shopping centre, is it?

Thanks anyway, the Standard, for those hopeless titbits.

Corrie's Alan Halsall, who plays Tyrone 'Punchbag' Dobbs, has been talking to the Sun about the decision of castmate Julie 'Hayley Cropper' Hesmondhalgh to leave the soap.

In an apparently unironic way (considering his current storyline) he said: "It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach when I found out. Julie will be missed by everyone - she's another Bill, she's loved. I'm excited for Julie because it's her choice but I'm gutted personally."

It was also revealed today that Julie's dad had passed away. 83-year old John died after battling Parkinson's disease for many years. Julie said: "My dad was just somebody everybody came into contact with and was really liked. He was warm, friendly and funny, and the messages I have had coming in have been absolutely lovely, and a great comfort. He was just the sort of person that if you met him, you would never forget and he would make people feel really welcome."

As new Corrie boss Stuart Blackburn starts his tenure ship of the soap, speculation about who he may cut from the cast in the coming months.

Blackburn was infamous during his time at Emmerdale for the ruthlessness with which he killed off or dumped characters, so it may only be a matter of time before the axe swings on some of the current Corrie crop. But who should go? - not will, should.

For our money the following should be looking to up their games to avoid the chop:

Kirsty Soames - She has to go, doesn't she? It's a soap rule that bad people get their comeuppance so she's already on borrowed time.

Gary Windass - He drifts aimlessly in and out of the soap like a ginger ghost. The already-irritating surrogacy plot still has many months left to play out so we'll only have months of his angry/ anguished face to look forward to. Get rid. And get rid of Izzy as well, while you're there.

Pam Hobsworth - Still in the show, apparently (check the official ITV site) but she's not called Pointless Pam for nothing.

Ryan Connor - 'I'm on drugs', 'I'm off drugs', 'I'm on drugs', 'I'm off drugs' and so on repeated every fortnight. TV's most unconvincing portrayal of drug addiction ever and nothing else since. Complete waste of screen time.

Faye Windass - What's the point? Seriously.

Corrie's Simon Gregson has pranked co-star Andy Whyment by announcing to all his friends and family that he is gay. Married Andy (who plays Kirk Sutherland) left his phone unguarded and within the reach of Simon (Steve McDonald) on set. Simon took the opportunity to send everyone in Andy's email address book an invite to a 'coming out' party.

The email read: "Please all come to my coming out party. I've decided to stop living a lie. I've realised that men make me happy and full of joy and other things."

The Sun is quoting a 'source' as saying: "Everyone thought it was hilarious and obviously Andy took it in his stride. Simon is the real joker in the pack and is always sparring with his co-stars, particularly Alan Halsall (Tyrone Dobbs), Craig Charles (Lloyd Mullaney), Mike Le Vell (Kevin Webster) and Andy, of course. People thought it was a wind-up, but apparently one of the neighbours who received the email actually thought Andy and his wife had decided to come out and reveal their marriage was a sham and that Andy was gay. [Wife] Nicola tweeted to Alan Halsall, 'My neighbour believed it'. I think she quickly put them right."

Funny it may be, but we reckon Andy has got a case for workplace bullying, actually.