List of Coronation Street characters (2024)

Coronation Street is a British soap opera first broadcast on ITV on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of characters introduced in 2024, by order of first appearance. In February Emily Wilkinson (Ellena Vincent) joined the cast as the wife of Joel Deering (Callum Lill), followed by John Perry played by played by former Peaky Blinders actor Ian Peck, who was an associate of Harvey Gaskell (Will Mellor). Rowan Cunliffe (Emrhys Cooper) made his debut in March and will be followed by Absolutely Fabulous star Helen Lederer is also set to make a guest appearance as Elspeth on March 27. Kit (Jacob Roberts) made his first appearance on 13 May 2024, part of a plot-twist as being the son of Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove). At some point in 2024, the parents of Joel Deering are set to be introduced.

Emily Wilkinson
Emily Wilkinson (also Deering), played by Ellena Vincent, is the mystery woman who knows Joel Deering (Calum Lill). She interrupts him whilst he is to the middle of a meeting with a client and she didn't seem happy with him. After she bumps into him, he escorts her out of the Bistro and Toyah Habeeb (Georgia Taylor) watches on them. In 2024, Vincent was spotted in EastEnders and lots of fans were baffled to see her in Coronation Street and EastEnders at the same time.

Emily is the ex-wife of Joel and is a part of a big storyline about Joel's past along with his parents, who arrived on 5 June 2024. When Joel revealed to his girlfriend Dee Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown) that Emily was his soon to be ex-wife, and that he also has a daughter named Maisie, Dee Dee broke up with him after she found out. Days later, she talks to Dee Dee to let her know that she was over with Joel and they are getting divorced.

John Perry
John Perry, played by Ian Peck, is a man who is prepared to confess to the murder of Natasha Blakeman (Rachel Leskovac) so Harvey Gaskell (Will Mellor) can be released from prison sort out his half-brother Damon Hay (Ciaran Griffiths) for Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson), whose wife Sarah Barlow (Tina O'Brien) had an affair with and subsequently begins a relationship with. Peck's casting was announced on 31 January 2024. His character was described to be a "guest" and would only appear for a "short stint." He appeared in five episodes between 9 February and 26 February. This was Peck's third guest role in Coronation Street after playing a prison officer named Lindworth and drug dealer Denton in 2015.

Harvey arranges for Adam to meet him at Weatherfield General Hospital. He does so, but finds out that John is a cancer patient and doesn't have long to live as it's terminal and has finished treatment. When Adam realises this and that he has a family including grandchildren, his conscience begins to make him feel like backing out of the plan as he believes that John should spend the rest of his time left with his grandchildren, but John says he would see the jail time as a punishment for the crimes he committed when he was younger. However, when Adam finds out that his wife Sarah wants to move out of the flat and into a new home with Damon and his stepson Harry Platt (Freddie and Isaac Rhodes), whom he sees as his own son, he decides to go along with the plan, but his conscience later gets the better of him.

Rowan Cunliffe
Rowan Cunliffe, played by Emrhys Cooper, made his debut on Friday 15 March. His casting was announced by Digital Spy on Tuesday 5 March. He met Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) and Simon Barlow (Alex Bain) at the Chariot Square Hotel where they attend an event together. After Simon confessing to drink driving with Sam Blakeman (Jude Riordan) in the back of the car, Leanne decides to help Simon by taking him to a seminar at the hotel being held by a mysterious group called 'The Institute'. Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) advises Nick goes along with them as there's a wedding fayre on local to the hotel. On Rowan's character, Digital Spy reported that "Rowan approaches Leanne and offers her some unsolicited advice. Leanne is initially taken aback by Rowan's approach, but she drops her guard when he encourages her to share her deepest thoughts and feelings. When Rowan leaves and flashes Leanne a smile, she can't help but blush. Does this Weatherfield newcomer have a hidden agenda?"

Elspeth
Elspeth, played by Helen Lederer, made her first appearance on 27 March. She caught the eye of Ken Barlow (William Roache) during a singles' cocktail night at the Chariot Square Hotel. She sends drinks over to him and his son-in-law Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson). Lederer had already teased a potential role on Coronation Street before her casting was officially announced on March 17. She first spoke out about her casting to Digital Spy saying "It came out of the blue but for me Coronation Street, of all the soaps, is the most substantial and ironic with such humour, it's really a class act. So when you get the call for Coronation Street you drop everything. And to be offered a part playing a role opposite William Roache is even more exciting. I had met him once before when I sat next to him at an event and I thought what a lovely man he was and so personable. So for me to be offered this brief role was a joy." Although Elspeth is only set to appear in one episode for now, Helen confirmed that she's open to returning to the role in the future and said "The answer to that is 'most definitely'. Ken had Steve to deal with but he was certainly interested in her. He definitely made sure he got her number, he initiated it. So who knows one day he might actually call her and I can come back to Weatherfield."

Rebecca
Rebecca, played by Gemma Merna, is a client of Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson) whom he is to set his sights on. She made her first appearance on 15 April. Inside Soap first reported Merna's casting on 2 April 2024 and Rebecca has been described to be a guest character as "Digital Spy understands that it is indeed just a small appearance in an episode, and it isn't expected to be a recurring role." Merna also commented on her casting by saying "I've wanted to be on Coronation Street since I was a little girl." She further discussed her feelings towards her casting by saying "Can you believe it?! I've wanted to be on Coronation Street since I was a little girl. Being born and bred in Manchester, it's truly a dream come true for me. It's been on my vision board for over 10 years, and finally, I got the chance to walk the cobbles. I can’t even believe I'm writing this. I think the best part was ringing my mum and telling her." Merna also told Digital Spy that her family have been fans of Coronation Street by saying "To my dad, nana, grandad, and grandma, who all watched it for many years, and were huge fans. I hope you're proud of me up there. Rebecca will be gracing your screens in the next coming weeks."

Denny Foreman
Denny Foreman is the estranged father of Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) and Paul Foreman (Peter Ash) who made his first appearance on 29 April 2024 after hearing Paul talk about motor neurone disease and the struggles he has from suffering from it on the radio. He is played by Danny Cunningham, whose casting was announced on 22 April. Digital Spy reported that Denny's arrival will cause concern for Paul's family including his husband Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank), who "is also unhappy over Denny, reminding Paul that Denny used to be violent towards him when he was a child." Bernie is also upset at Denny's sudden arrival as "she's worried that Denny might expose secrets from her past" to her current partner Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin). This will be Cunningham's second role in the soap as he previously appeared as Jimmy Sykes between 2000 and 2001.

Chloe Timms from Inside Soap called the character "horrid" and hoped that Bernie would chase the character "out of Weatherfield".

Kit Green
Christopher "Kit" Green, played by Jacob Roberts, made his first appearance on 13 May 2024. He is the secret son of Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) that she had conceived whilst she was with her other children's father, Denny (Danny Cunningham). His casting details were initially announced on 23 April 2024, however the characters name was not yet revealed. Roberts' revealed he knew about the plot-twist beforehand. He also added that he had quite a journey during the audition process to obtain the role.

Teasing his character, Roberts' told ITV: "Kit is working as a detective and has been brought in to try and solve the Lauren Bolton case and of course is Bernie’s secret son. I do think he is going to be a very misunderstood character at first. He’s been really hurt throughout his life and although he has a good heart, he has some deep rooted resentment with his biological mum, which will be really interesting to play out."

Anthea Deering
Anthea Deering, played by Carol Royle, is the mother of Joel Deering (Calum Lill) who first appeared on 5 June 2024. It was initially announced on 15 February 2024 that Joel's parents would be arriving in Coronation Street, however the names of his parents were revealed on 28 May. Anthea, along with her husband Gus, are set to meet Joel's girlfriend. Dee Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown). She and Gus take a dislike to her as it has been described, "it is an uphill battle with Joel’s parents Anthea and Gus, who make their disapproval of Dee Dee clear." Anthea caused Dee Dee to feel upset and "when she makes a patronising remark, Dee-Dee storms out." Joel subsequently proposed to Dee Dee.

When Lill, who plays Joel, was asked about whether the introduction of Joel's parents would help audiences understand his past, he said, "definitely. Joel is the middle child from a middle class family. He's navigating that and trying to be good enough. I'm looking forward to seeing how that unfolds."

Gus Deering
Gus Deering, potrayed by Chris Garner, is the father of Joel Deering (Calum Lill) who first appeared on 5 June 2024. It was initially announced on 15 February 2024 that Joel's parents would be arriving in Coronation Street, however the names of his parents were revealed on 28 May. Gus, along with his wife Anthea, met Joel's girlfriend, Dee Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown). However, he and Anthea took a dislike to her as it has been described, "it is an uphill battle with Joel’s parents Anthea and Gus, who make their disapproval of Dee Dee clear." Joel subsequently proposed to Dee Dee.

When Lill, who plays Joel, was asked about whether the introduction of Joel's parents would help audiences understand his past, he said, "definitely. Joel is the middle child from a middle class family. He's navigating that and trying to be good enough. I'm looking forward to seeing how that unfolds."

Betsy Swain
Betsy Swain, portrayed by Sydney Martin, was initially introduced as an unnamed friend of Sabrina Adetiba (Luana Santos) on 21 June 2024 when lawyer, Joel Deering (Calum Lill) was beginning to manipulate her and gave her his business card. Betsy pretended to dispose of it, but later went to find him to warn him off. A week later, on 28 June, Betsy begins to blackmail Joel into paying her to keep quiet after realising he has dark secrets. After Joel paid Betsy off, she went and bought herself some chips, which was when she was revealed to be the daughter of DS Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers), who confronted her about the chips and she knew that Betsy didn't have the money for them, so she lied to Lisa and said a friend bought them, showing some tension in their relationship. Betsy is set to be employed at Underworld after blackmailing Carla Barlow (Alison King) when she sees her having a "violent altercation with a yob who's hassling Roy Cropper (David Neilson), she threatens to tell the police unless Carla hires her at the factory over the summer."

Martin told Digital Spy, "Betsy has been brought up by two female detectives, but she seems to have contempt for the law." She also discussed her character's background and her behaviour by saying, "obviously she's lost her other mum when she was on duty, so she already has some disrespect for the career. Lisa stayed on, and that causes a bit of tension in their relationship." Martin also described her character's personality, "there's also this feeling that 'Mummy can get me out of it'. There's this playfulness there. She's a little bit naïve and thinks that the law doesn't apply to her, so she's teetering on the edge."