{"id":924625,"date":"2026-10-08T00:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T00:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/924625\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T00:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T00:06:13","slug":"coronation-street-star-reveals-secret-rejections-from-show-bosses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/924625\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronation Street star reveals secret rejections from show bosses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"3\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Coronation Street actor Andrew Hayden-Smith has revealed that he was rejected for the ITV soap four whole times before he landed the role of Pete Lang, a potential business client of Theo Silverton who the villain charmed into bed to make Todd Grimshaw jealous.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"9\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Over on his Instagram, the star has been doing a few &#8216;about me&#8217; posts with some interesting revelations, including that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Ddt-FtIkZCB\/?img_index=5\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Ddt-FtIkZCB\/?img_index=5\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"he actually auditioned to play Theo himself\" data-node-id=\"9.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">he actually auditioned to play Theo himself<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"13\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DeHLqWZDP67\/?img_index=1\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DeHLqWZDP67\/?img_index=1\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Going into detail about\" data-node-id=\"13.0\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Going into detail about<\/a> Corrie, he explained: &#8220;I&#8217;ve been an actor for 30 years. It&#8217;s not always plain sailing, but I&#8217;m very grateful for the roles I&#8217;ve played and the opportunities I&#8217;ve been incredibly lucky enough to have.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"19\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tech\/best-tech-deals\/g35899960\/best-streaming-services\/\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tech\/best-tech-deals\/g35899960\/best-streaming-services\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Best streaming services UK 2026 \u2013 including Disney+, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV\" data-node-id=\"19.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Best streaming services UK 2026 \u2013 including Disney+, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"24\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">&#8220;Over the years, whenever I haven&#8217;t been working, people always used to say to me, &#8216;Well, can you not just get a job on Corrie?&#8217; Like it&#8217;s that easy! Oh yeah, I&#8217;ll just give them a call and tell them I&#8217;d like a part. Give over man!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He explained that two of his four Corrie auditions were screen tests, and while he &#8220;allowed my to think maybe this is the one&#8221; all five times, he said that something about his fifth audition &#8220;felt different&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I loved the character, I loved the storyline and I desperately wanted to finally get the chance to walk onto those cobbles.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"28\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">&#8220;And this time, after four auditions. After four no&#8217;s. After years of wanting to work on the show, I&#8217;d only bloody got it! Finally, I was off to Weatherfield.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img draggable=\"true\" alt=\"pete, todd grimshaw, coronation street\" title=\"Pete, Todd Grimshaw, Coronation Street \" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2133\" height=\"1200\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;width:100%;height:auto;\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pete-todd-grimshaw-coronation-street-68db9e0751085.jpg\" class=\"css-0 e1ddfba50\"\/><\/p>\n<p>ITV<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"34\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/soaps\/coronation-street\/a74056667\/coronation-street-megan-walsh-return\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/soaps\/coronation-street\/a74056667\/coronation-street-megan-walsh-return\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Coronation Street secures return for controversial villain as star returns to filming\" data-node-id=\"34.0.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Coronation Street secures return for controversial villain as star returns to filming<\/a> <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"38\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">He said that he was sharing his post because he had many moments where &#8220;it would be very easy to think&#8221; that it wasn&#8217;t going to happen, but he just had to keep going.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"42\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">&#8220;So, whatever your version of Corrie is\u2026 Keep going.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"46\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Hollyoaks star Ross Adams, who worked behind-the-scenes at Corrie before landing the role of Scott Drinkwell, commented: &#8220;I remember being sat on the desk when you had one of these! And for what it&#8217;s worth, I was convinced you had it too!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"50\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Andy Newton-Lee, who played Liam Strong on Corrie and Robbie Flynn on Hollyoaks, wrote: &#8220;Got Corrie my first time, no callbacks LOL, Hollyoaks was 8 auditions!! What a life we choose hahaa.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"54\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Outside of Corrie, Hayden-Smith also appeared in Hollyoaks, Byker Grove, Doctor Who, Cucumber and Banana. He&#8217;s known for being a continuity voice announcer on ITV and ITV2, and an iconic presenter on CBBC.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"58\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Coronation Street airs on weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and streams on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.itv.com\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"ITVX\" data-node-id=\"58.2\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ITVX<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"62\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/soaps\/coronation-street\/\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"http:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/soaps\/coronation-street\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage\" data-node-id=\"62.0\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"67\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a70049607\/streaming-guide\/\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a70049607\/streaming-guide\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Streaming Guide\" data-node-id=\"67.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"71\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">The new edition of Legends, a 100-page celebration of Dolly Parton&#8217;s life, is here. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hearstmagazines.co.uk\/special-editions-subscriptions\/living-legend-specials\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.hearstmagazines.co.uk\/special-editions-subscriptions\/living-legend-specials\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Buy Dolly in newsagents or online\" data-node-id=\"71.3\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Buy Dolly in newsagents or online<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coronation Street actor Andrew Hayden-Smith has revealed that he was rejected for the ITV soap four whole times&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":924626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,181355,782,317944,784,75,237154,783,317943,273948,181354,348],"class_list":["post-924625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-db4666cd-36b7-46a3-8b2e-6007aa72cfa4","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-corrie-star-receals-secret-rejections-from-show-bosses","tag-sponsored-false","tag-subsection-coronation-street","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=924625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/924626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=924625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=924625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=924625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}