Coronation Street star Connor McIntyre still gets stopped by fans who recognise him as evil villain Pat Phelan, but his world couldn’t be anymore different since leaving the show. Chatting to HELLO! at Inside Soap Awards on Monday night, Connor, a talented artist, said: " Right now I am making lots of paintings. I have a big studio and been back there. It takes a little while for the Phelan thing to drop off and so if I went into anything right now it would be 'oh there's Pat Phelan in such and such.' But I am also doing panto with Les Dennis at Manchester Opera House this Christmas. You guys are going to be so jealous of my eyelashes!"
Coronation Street's Pat Phelan is starring in Cinderella alongside Les Dennis and Gareth Gates
"We are in Cinderella and playing the two ugly sisters. I am sure my old Corrie cast mates will come and see me in it and be in the front row with apples and oranges," Connor joked. The actor will also be working with Gareth Gates in the panto, who will play Prince Charming, while Cinderella herself will be played by CBBC star Shannon Flynn.
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The talented actor with two out of three awards
It was a successful night for the talented actor, who won picked up not just the one, but three awards for his portrayal of Eileen Grimshaw's evil boyfriend on Corrie. "Three is a magic number, I can't believe it. There was some really strong competition this year in the room so I am more than delighted," he said.
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Viewers loved watching Phelan's grizzly end, which saw it win the Best Shock Twist on Monday night's award ceremony, while Coronation Street also won Best Soap. The villain was killed by Anna Windass, who made a surprise return to the cobbles after being wrongfully sent to prison by her arch enemy. In a nail-biting end to Phelan's reign of terror, Anna stabbed the builder, killing him in the process. Connor admitted that he misses working on the show, telling reporters including HELLO!: "What I do miss is getting the scripts and wondering how I will make some of the stuff work as realistically as possible."
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