Former Coronation Street actor Tony Hirst has revealed the lengths his co-stars went to for a set of scenes inspired by The Full Monty. In 2013, the soap aired a dramatic episode in which the Rovers Return Inn caught fire, while some of the Weatherfield residents, including Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) and Karl Munro (John Michie), were approached to perform a striptease as a fundraiser at Nick's Bistro.
Co-stars' extreme preparation
Hirst, who played fireman Paul Kershaw, recalled that some of his co-stars “stopped drinking water” and went to the gym to look as in shape as possible. “I remember doing a Full Monty style scene on Coronation Street where we had to be naked,” he said.
“Some of the younger lads purposefully didn’t drink water for two days beforehand so they wouldn’t be bloated, and others were in the gym, trying to look as buff as possible,” he told The Sun.
Plot twist and aftermath
Just before the striptease reached its finale, Norris Cole burst in to tell everyone that the pub was on fire. At the time, the Rovers Return was owned by Stella Price, played by EastEnders star Michelle Collins. Karl was her former partner, whom she had thrown out after discovering his affair with Sunita Alahan (Shoba Gulati). She then began a relationship with Jason and tried to frame him by setting the pub ablaze in an attempt to win Stella back.
The blaze resulted in the deaths of Sunita and Paul's colleague Toni Griffiths. Karl was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for his crimes.
Tony Hirst's time on the cobbles
Hirst was first introduced to Coronation Street during the soap's 50th anniversary in December 2010, when an explosion destroyed the viaduct and caused a tram to crash onto the backstreet. Almost a year later, he returned to help Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) when she got her head stuck in railings at Underworld factory and quickly became a love interest for her.
It soon transpired that he was actually married to a woman named Lesley (Judy Holt), but she had Alzheimer's. Despite Eileen's efforts to look after her, she electrocuted herself when she put a toaster under a running tap. Following Lesley's death, Paul and Eileen continued their relationship for more than a year, but they called it quits in August 2013 and he departed Weatherfield for good.
Prior to his stint on Coronation Street, Hirst played Mike Barnes on Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks. Over his career, he has appeared in Casualty, Holby City and Brassic. Last year, he played the recurring role of Jerry in Riot Women and narrates programmes such as How It's Made and Benefits Street. He recently confirmed that he is now filming new episodes of mystery crime drama Patience for Channel 4.
