Former Coronation Street favourite set to join Emmerdale in THIS exciting new role

(Image credit: ITV)

Former Coronation Street star Reece Dinsdale joins Emmerdale as a director...

There are exciting times ahead at Emmerdale as former Coronation Street star Reece Dinsdale joins the team as a director.

Soap fans will remember Reece as Gail Platt's former husband Joe McIntyre, who was also the dad of Tina McIntyre, played by actress Michelle Keegan.

Reece played Joe between 2008 and 2010, and his character became the fourth husband for unlucky in love Gail.

After Reece quit the soap in 2009 the decision was made to kill the character off, and fans were left stunned when Joe met an untimely end after an attempt to fake his own death went tragically wrong.

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Coronation Street Gail and Joe — Gail and Joe weren't married for long before he met a watery end (Picture: ITV)

Joe, who was known for his string of bad luck, found himself in huge debt with loan shark Rick Neelan and decided to fake his own death by disappearing on a sailing boat in the Lake District.

Sadly for Joe, his bad luck continued when his plan to fake his own death and claim the insurance money went tragically wrong and he ended up dying for real in a boating accident, leaving Gail a widow once again.

The actor shared the exiting news with his fans on social media yesterday, revealing that he starts his new role at Emmerdale today!

Reece also revealed that he would be directing his good friend Zoe Henry, who is better known to Emmerdale fans as village vet Rhona Goskirk.

Zoe replied to Reece's tweet telling him how much she was looking forward to working together, while fans of the soap sent him good luck messages as he starts in his new role today.

Directors at Emmerdale usually work on a freelance basis, and this isn't the first time that Reece will be flexing his directing muscles.

The former actor's first job as a director came in 2012 while working on The Crossing, a 45 minute drama as part of the Secrets and Words series for BBC1.

Since then Reece has made a name for himself in the world of television by directing numerous episodes of BBC1 anthology series, Moving On.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays.

Claire is Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch and has been a journalist for over 15 years, writing about everything from soaps and TV to beauty, entertainment, and even the Royal Family. After starting her career at a soap magazine, she ended up staying for 13 years, and over that time she’s pulled pints in the Rovers Return, sung karaoke in the Emmerdale village hall, taken a stroll around Albert Square, and visited Summer Bay Surf Club in sunny Australia.

After learning some tricks of the trade at websites Digital Spy, Entertainment Daily, and Woman & Home, Claire landed a role at What’s On TV and whattowatch.com writing about all things TV and film, with a particular love for Aussie soaps, Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off.

She’s interviewed everyone from June Brown — AKA Dot Cotton — to Michelle Keegan, swapped cooking tips with baking legend Mary Berry backstage at the NTAs, and danced the night away with soap stars at countless awards bashes. There’s not a lot she doesn’t know about soaps and TV and can be very handy when a soapy question comes up in a pub quiz!

As well as all things soap-related, Claire also loves running, spa breaks, days out with her kids, and getting lost in a good book.