Coronation Street's Ben Thompson has revealed plans to launch a career in music after being axed from the soap. The 18-year-old actor, whose character Ryan Connor is expected to make occasional appearances in Corrie after going away to university, has always written music - but now he says he has more time to focus on it. Ben told the Bolton News: "Coronation Street has been a fantastic springboard for me - it's a national institution. People hear about my gigs and want to see Ryan from Coronation Street play songs." He went on: "It's nice that people support me because I've been on Coronation Street, but I want to impress people with my music. "I know it's hard to be credible when you come out of a soap and people might think I'm singing just because I've been on television. I'm not going to be on TV with make-up on and my top off, though." Ben also revealed he was reluctant to leave the cobbles. He said: "Ryan is being sent off to university and can come back, but I don't know if that will happen for the foreseeable future. I am sad, because it has been the biggest part of my life for the past four years. "It has given me the freedom to work on my music, though. Writing music is something I have always done, but I've never been able to focus on it before because I had to do Coronation Street." Ben will be back on screen in December as part of the soap's 50th anniversary storyline. Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk's weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop
