Former Coronation Street star Ian Bartholomew made a surprise appearance at the auditions for Britain's Got Talent over the weekend.
After a year off due to COVID, the talent show is back this year with Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon all returning as judges.
According to The Sun, among the first acts to audition for the judges was 67-year-old Bartholomew, who played domestic abuser Geoff Metcalfe on Corrie for three years.
The actor left the judges in tears with his performance of an original song, 'This Time', which aims to raise money for domestic abuse charity Women's Aid.
"I am from Cheshire. I was in Coronation Street," he told the audience. "I played nasty Geoff Metcalfe. He was a nasty piece of work. I started in 2018 and I fell off a roof in the show last year. I am 67.
"The song I am singing I wrote myself and was used in a campaign by Women's Aid to raise awareness about domestic abuse. I am not here for me, I am here for the charity and the abused victims."
Metcalfe's performance drew unanimous praise from the judges, who put him through to the next round, with Cowell telling him: "I thought good for you Ian, particularly someone who is known for doing something else to come on this show and put it all out there.
"The song is pretty good and your vocal is pretty good. I think what I love about this show is the ability to see something grow and I am 100% in agreement.
"We could help you put together a fantastic production as it is for me a female voice in that song. We could make it bigger to have a bigger impact. We could help you do that."
Britain's Got Talent is due to return to ITV in April.
Neil Wilkes
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