Corrie fans will see vicar Billy Mayhew say his last sermon after 11 years guiding his Weatherfield flock but actor Daniel Brocklebank insists they will not see him in the I’m A Celeb… jungle
10:20, 24 Nov 2025
Don’t expect to see Daniel in the jungle any time soon(Image: Supplied)
Corrie star Daniel Brocklebank has ruled out going on I’m A Celebrity after filming his last scene as cobbles vicar Billy Mayhew, insisting: “I’m not interested in chewing on a kangaroo’s b*****k in the jungle!
The actor appeared to fight back tears as he filmed his explosive final scenes last week, more than a decade after joining the legendary soap. But 40 minutes later, he was in a Manchester theatre rehearsing for his next role in cult comedy classic Young Frankenstein.
And he said he took on the role in the musical comedy horror – based on the 1974 film written by Mel Brooks Gene Wilder – as he wanted to do something “a bit leftfield” after leaving Coronation Street.
Billy has had some hard-hitting storylines in his time on the cobbles
He said: “The normal route is to go and do a panto and maybe a bit of reality television, but I’m not particularly interested in going and chewing on a kangaroo’s b******k in the jungle. I wanted to do something that would terrify me and really stretch me and Young Frankenstein is doing both.
“It’s fun and eccentric. My character puts a brain into a 7ft green monster. The script’s a bit naughty – it’s old-school humour, which I love, there are great songs and tap dancing.
“It’s been thrilling to meet a lovely company of new faces and part of the appeal is that with Frankenstein I’m playing someone so different to Billy. The thing with playing one character for so long is that you become synonymous with that person, even though I’m nothing like Billy.”
Billy was part of a powerful MND storyline(Image: ITV)
His Corrie departure was announced in the summer, but he said he had been thinking about it for a year. Exactly how and when Billy leaves Weatherfield is a closely guarded secret, but Daniel says he was delighted with the scripts.
He told the Mirror: “As an actor, I enjoy being challenged and I was very quiet in the last year there. After the Motor Neurone Disease storyline, which is probably the thing I’m most proud of, I wondered really what was left for Billy.
“He’d been a drug addict, he’d adopted a child, got married, had the first ever same sex wedding on the show and lost his husband. It’s not like he hadn’t packed it in – it’s been quite a colourful 11 years.
Billy has been a mainstay in Corrie for more than a decade
“I was in a show at the Palladium earlier this year and it just reminded me that there was a whole world happening outside of that Weatherfield bubble.”
“Billy’s departure is fitting for a character that has been front and centre of the show for a lot of his tenure and I’m really pleased with it. The last scene that I filmed was on the street and 150 people all piled out to wave me off and hug me.
“Harriet Bibby who plays my daughter Summer, bless her, was very emotional. It is an emotional thing – you’re saying goodbye to an era of your life.”
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