Katherine Kelly posted a photo with David Neilson in August 2025. By the end of the day, her Instagram comments had turned into a campaign to bring Becky McDonald back to Corrie.
It wasn’t the only cast meetup this year. Daniel Brocklebank’s final weeks on the show brought four colleagues to Liverpool Playhouse in December. Gareth Pierce shared photos with Con O’Neill, who recently appeared in The Batman. Jane Danson and Georgia Taylor visited Chris Gascoyne during his panto run in Bradford.
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Katherine Kelly and David Neilson Spotted Together
Kelly played Becky McDonald from 2006 to 2012. Neilson has played Roy Cropper since 1995. On screen, Roy and his late wife Hayley took the troubled Becky under their wing. Fans loved watching them together.
In August 2025, Kelly shared a photo with Neilson on Instagram.
“Look who I was lucky enough to spend the day with,” she wrote.
“Come back to Corrieee we miss Becky,” one fan commented. Another added, “Iconic! Becky definitely needs to pop over to the Cobbles for a visit.”
ITV included a Becky reference in the script earlier in 2025, when David Platt mentioned she was “still shacked up with that Ian bloke who owns the hotel in Belize.” Writers rarely add those details without reason. Manchester Evening News reported on the fan response and the growing calls for Kelly’s return.
Kelly appeared in ITV’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office in January 2024 and Channel 4 thriller In Flight last summer. No announcement about a Corrie return yet, but her 2012 exit kept Becky’s story open.
Daniel Brocklebank’s Departure Drew Colleagues to Liverpool
Brocklebank finished filming as vicar Billy Mayhew in November 2025 after 11 years on the show. He went straight into rehearsals for Young Frankenstein the Musical.
“I literally left Corrie at quarter to one on the Tuesday afternoon and by half past one I was at Hope Mill Theatre,” he told Loose Women in late November.
When Brocklebank posted about his final day on set, colleagues responded. Sally Carman, who plays Abi Webster, wrote, “We will miss you lovely man. Now go get ’em!” Harriet Bibby, his on-screen daughter Summer Spellman, added, “We will miss you so much! We love you loads.”
The support continued when the show opened at Liverpool Playhouse in December. Catherine Tyldesley, Jane Danson, Tony Maudsley, and Jodie Prenger attended the performance. Brocklebank posted a backstage photo of the group, calling them “the Corrie family.”
Maudsley commented, “Outstanding! Where have you been hiding those tap shoes all these years?”
Billy Mayhew’s final scenes aired during the Corriedale crossover special. The character was killed in the minibus crash after Theo Silverton left him to die.
Gareth Pierce Shared Photos With a Batman Actor
Pierce plays Todd Grimshaw on the show. His December 2025 Instagram post featured lunch photos with Con O’Neill, Matt Di Angelo, and Kellie Shirley.
O’Neill appeared in The Batman and The Penguin alongside Robert Pattinson and Colin Farrell. Di Angelo played EastEnders villain Dean Wicks across two decades. Shirley’s credits include Call the Midwife.
Shirley has known Pierce for almost three decades through the National Youth Theatre. Di Angelo and O’Neill have been friends with the group for two decades.
“We finished each other’s sentences, took the p**s and laughed like drains,” Pierce wrote. “Like we always do.”
“This is the soap/Batman crossover we need,” one fan commented.
Other Recent Cast Meetups
Chris Gascoyne left Corrie on Boxing Day 2023 after years playing Peter Barlow. A year later, in December 2024, Jane Danson and Georgia Taylor visited him at Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre, where he was performing as Stromboli in Pinocchio.
Taylor posted a backstage photo calling him “our beloved PB” and noting that “eyeliner and black nail varnish never looked so good on a guy.”
Tony Maudsley reconnected with two former colleagues in April 2025. Back in 2007, he appeared briefly on ITV’s The Royal alongside Amy Robbins and Natalie Anderson. They lost touch for nearly two decades until both women joined Coronation Street in 2025. Robbins now plays Christina Boyd, and Anderson plays Danielle Silverton.
Maudsley posted a selfie of the trio with a message for fans who remembered the medical drama. “The last time we were all together was 18 years ago on The Royal,” he wrote. “So lovely to now be having a little reunion on the cobbles.”
Cast Changes Coming in 2026
Corrie is losing several long-serving actors this year. Sue Cleaver leaves after 25 years as Eileen Grimshaw. Colson Smith’s Craig Tinker is being written out after 14 years. Brocklebank’s Billy exits within weeks.
But returns are confirmed too. Catherine Tyldesley reprises Eva Price full-time this year. Ryan Thomas returns as Jason Grimshaw for Cleaver’s exit storyline.
In 2018, Kelly said Becky shouldn’t return. “Some things are better left as they are,” she told OK! Magazine. That was seven years ago. One photo with Neilson, and the Becky campaign is back.
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Article Updated: 10/01/2026.
