After joining the cast of Coronation Street back in 1983, actorMichael Le Vell has become one of the more familiar faces on the cobbles.
And with more than two decades on our screens, Michael, who plays Kevin Webster, has found himself at the centre ofsome dramatic storylines in Weatherfield throughout the years.
Most recently,Kevin’s wife Abi Webster revealed that she’d given birth to Imran Habeeb’s baby, shortly after she and Kevin had gone their separate ways.
So, asKevin’s dramatic relationship with Abi continues to play out in her custody hearing, let’s have a look at Michael’s life off-screen…
Tumultuous love life on the cobbles
While he may have risen to fame after appearing as Kevin on the soap, Michael actually made his Corrie debut three years prior as a paperboy called Neil Grimshaw.
But when he returned to the soap as Kevin Webster, his character immediately fell for Sally Webster.
Though the on-screen couple had two children together, their relationship was far from smooth as Kevin and many affairs.
After some temporary departures from the show throughout 2013 and 2014, the actor returned to the soap where his character’s rocky love life continued to to play out with new wife Abi Franklin.
1980s LGBT icon
Back in the 1980s, Michael became an LGBT icon thanks to his character’s large moustache, hooped earring and love for tight jeans.
As the first male British actor to sport a piercing in his left ear, Michael received lots of fan mail and has since opened up about that period in his life.
Speaking toThe Sun, he said: “Everybody loved my moustache! I was booked up doing appearances at gay clubs throughout the country, from Land's End to John O'Groats.
“I could go out six nights a week, having a great time, doing Q&As, signing autographs, having photos taken.”
He added: “I used to get loads of fan mail, and underpants sent in the post. But then, in the show, Stephanie Barnes shaved off Kevin's 'tache for a bet and it changed overnight — nobody would book me.
“I have thought about growing it back many times. I even asked the Corrie bosses if we could do Movember but they said no. Gutted.”
Drug use at his ‘lowest ebb’
Michael claimed that he’d taken cocaine when he was at the “lowest ebb” of his life in 2013.
Speaking toThe Sunday Mirror, he said: “I've always been dead against drugs and have turned them down in the past.
“I've seen what they can do to people but I had never felt so low. I knew I was innocent but everything was closing in on me. And when someone offered them to me, I just agreed.
“The first time I ever did cocaine was in the lead up to my trial. There were some bad influences around me and it felt like an escape. Now I'm so ashamed of what I did.
“I never thought that I was the sort of bloke who would like cocaine. But it was moments of weakness when I was at the lowest ebb of my life.”
Love life off-screen
In 1986 Michael married Janette Beverly, who played minor character Elaine Pollard in the soap.
The couple were married for 25 years and share two children together.
In 2017, the Corrie legend got engaged to his long-term girlfriend Louise Gibbons.
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