Coronation Street legend dies off-screen and their family left devastated
Coronation Street legend Les Battersby will be killed-off on the soap next week leaving his children devastated. Les, who hasn’t appeared in the ITV soap since 2007, will die off-screen after a work accident. Les’ fate was rumoured back in October, but has been confirmed in recent storylines.
Next week, Nick Tilsley (Ben Price), prepares to come clean to Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) about his affair with Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor). But before Nick can break the news, the police arrive and will explain that Leanne’s dad, Les, has died at work. Leanne will be left utterly shocked and will head to find her sister to tell her the news, however Nick shall quickly call Toyah to give her warning.
Leanne and Toyah seem to bond over their grief for Les, but Leanne will be confused when it becomes apparent that Toyah already knew he’d died. And Leanne’s even further puzzled when Toyah admits that Nick called her.
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Nick makes out he called Toyah about the Bistro rota and the news just slipped out. When Toyah leaps to Nick’s defence, Leanne’s suspicions deepen. Leanne will do even more investigating after discovering a holiday booking on Nick’s laptop.
The news about Les’ death was first rumoured last month with actor Bruce Jones allegedly being informed of his character’s demise via email. Bruce later told GB News: "I had no time when I was there to watch it, because I was in it. But I sat and watched Corrie with my wife on Monday night, and at the end of part one of that show I walked out the room and I didn't go back until I heard the music at the end. I just couldn't watch it.”
Talking about the response to his character being killed-off, Bruce said: "I'm getting the feedback from these people who were pretty annoyed about it; people who love Les. But it's their decision. It's their show."
The Battersby family made their entrance on the cobbles back in 1997, with Bruce portraying Les for a solid decade until 2007. The character was hitched to Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle) and they had Leanne as their daughter and Toyah as their stepdaughter.
After Janice had enough of his chaotic antics, she left him for Dennis Stringer (played by Charles Dale) and Les moved on with pub worker Cilla Brown (Wendi Peters), her son Chesney Brown (Sam Aston) and his pet dog, Schmeichel the Great Dane.
In 2007, Bruce was caught on camera insulting fans and revealing secret plot lines during a night out, leading to his suspension and eventual departure from the show.
