Keith Duffy returning to Coronation Street

Keith Duffy returning to Coronation Street (Image credit: EMPICS Sport)

Keith Duffy may return to Coronation Street after show chiefs confirmed he is in talks for a comeback. The Boyzone star, 34, played barman Ciaran McCarthy in the ITV1 soap for two years, but left in 2005. Scriptwriters are now reportedly working on ideas to reunite him with old friend Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) on a gastro-pub business to rival the Rovers Return, according to The Sun. A spokesman for Coronation Street said: "He has been in to see the producer. We've had an initial chat but no final decision has been made." During his time in the show, Duffy's character developed a reputation as a ladies' man. He made a play for Peter's then girlfriend Shelley Unwin (Sally Lindsay) before moving on to Sunita Parekh (Shobna Gulati), who is also returning to the soap later this year. Other romantic entanglements involved Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) and Shelley's mother Bev (Susie Blake). Dubliner Keith is currently on a Boyzone reunion tour. According to The Sun, he has discussed a six-month deal, with an option to extend it by six months. Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk's new weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.