When Michael Le Vell was handed a new year-long contract this month he breathed a sigh of relief.
Complacency isn’t wise in Coronation Street – even after 42 years playing mechanic Kevin Webster, who now owns the garage.
Michael, 61, tells The Mirror: “You can never take the job for granted. My contract was due in January and I’ve just been offered a new one, so I can breathe a sigh of relief for another year.
“But you can never look beyond that. They might say ‘you know what, we can’t write for you, we don’t know what to write for you anymore. Thank you and goodbye.’ That’s the nature of the beast.”
Bitter and depleted, after battling testicular cancer and losing his wife, Abi (Sally Carman) to his scheming brother, Carl (Jonathan Howard), gossip is rife among Corrie fans that Kevin could be set for a romantic reunion with ex-wife Sally (Sally Dynevor).
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Michael says: “People ask me all the time if I’d like Kevin to get back with Sally and I always say no. It’s because I love Sally and Tim together. I think they’re a great couple, so I wouldn’t want them splitting up, just so I can get back with Sally. I’d get back with Abi, because I love working with Sally Carman. I hope they find a way to reconcile them in 2026, but at this moment in time, that’s not on the cards either.”
What is guaranteed is a year of drama ahead – starting with Corriedale, the special episode on January 5, which will see Corrie and Emmerdale come together for the first time. Michael is sworn to secrecy on the details, but knows his family will be affected by a devastating pile-up on a country road between the two locations, after leaving the wedding of his sister Debbie (Sue Devaney).
He says: “It was an honour to be part of Corriedale because these things don’t come around too often. I was in a scene with a couple of Emmerdale actors – Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle) and Danny Miller (Aaron Dingle) – as we tried to move a crashed car, which was great. The episode involved a lot of night shoots out on location and our trailers were next to each other, so the casts of the two shows were always having a cup of tea and a chat, which was fun. It’s very exciting; it was a great privilege to be a part of it.”
The second longest serving actor after Bill Roache (Ken Barlow) Michael arrived in Weatherfield in 1983. Yet, he still gets nervous before his scenes, confessing: “Not a day goes by where I don’t get nervous. “I get a churning stomach and I feel apprehensive, especially if I’m in every scene. It’s even more stressful if I’m in a scene with someone like Bill Roache or Barbara Knox – mainly out of respect – or if I’m in a big scene in the Rovers.
“If there are lots of people in the pub, when it comes to your bit, you’re thinking ‘don’t mess up, don’t mess up.’ Otherwise, they’ll all have to go back and do their dialogue again, so that’s an added pressure.” But he hopes to match Bill Roache, who is still holding his own, aged 93. He says: “I’ll be in the show in my 70s, 80s and 90s, if they still want me. I’ve never been tempted to leave.
“I’ve had so many lines recently where Kevin’s said ‘I’m old, I’m grey.’ He even mentioned something about retiring the other week and I went ‘I don’t want to say that line, thanks very much!’ As far as I’m concerned, I’m in the No 1 show. It’s the best job in television and if it’s not broke, why change it? I love the storylines and the people – great actors like Sally Dynevor, Sally Carman and Alan Halsall. They’re such a joy to work with that some days it doesn’t feel like a job. Although I’m not going to say that too loudly or they might stop my wages!”
Within three years of arriving on the cobbles, Kevin had married Sally and the couple bought 13 Coronation Street from Hilda Ogden (Jean Alexander), before having daughters Rosie and Sophie. He laughs: “Jean Alexander was one of the show’s legends, but I remember her once telling me off. She asked me to sign a get well card for Bernard Youens, who played Stan. I’d just come out of filming a scene in the garage and I got a bit of oil on the card. She went mad at me!”
Kevin lived happily with Sally until he cheated on her with Natalie Horrocks (Denise Welch), then cheating again and fathering son Jack during a fling with Molly, the wife of his best friend Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall). He’s since clocked up two more marriages, to Alison Wakefield, who killed herself after their son Jake died and now he’s split from Abi.
Manchester-born Michael learned his craft at Oldham Theatre Workshop, before making his TV debut in Corrie, aged 15, playing paper boy Neil Grimshaw. Three years later he was spotted for the role of Kevin while auditioning for the comedy drama series Scully. He recalls: “I was waiting in the corridor and the casting director walked past and said ‘am I seeing you tomorrow for Coronation Street?’ I said ‘no.’ She said: ‘leave it with me.’ When I got home my agent rang and told me I’d got an audition the next day. I went in and got the part of Kevin and the rest is history. It’s been my life – I’ve grown up here. I’ve been Kevin Webster since I was 18, so at 61 I feel like an elder statesman of the show.”
Michael lives in Cheshire with his fiancé Louise Gibbons, their three Yorkshire terriers and two Siamese cats. Passionate about animals and the countryside, they also own two horses – Maximus and Magica. “We’re very different,” Michael says, comparing himself to Kevin. “When I’m not working, I’m shovelling horse s**t, mucking out and filling hay nets at the stables.”
Getting into horses 10 years ago through Louise, when they went for riding lessons together, he adds: “The horses give me serenity. When you’re riding, you can’t think about anything else. It’s the same with the dogs and cats. When I’m with them, they give me unconditional love, so I can’t help but give them unconditional love back.”
He has even competed at equestrian events, saying: “I’ve done alright. I won rosettes for dressage and that sort of stuff, doing little circles around the arena. But then I got a little bit bored of that, so I started having jumping lessons. I fell off twice. You don’t bounce the same when you’re my age. It really hurt. I mainly leave the riding to Louise now and I just do the mucking out and feeding.”
During four action-packed decades in Corrie, Kevin has been a lothario, he rescued Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) from a fire in The Rovers and he’s thrown more than the odd punch. He says: “Alan Halsall calls him Angry Kev. He reckons he’s angry at everything. It’s true, he is a bit handy with his fists. He’s hit everyone from Tyrone to Terry Duckworth. He reacts first and then thinks about it later. I’ve had more fights on the cobbles than anybody else. Kevin must have hit his brother Carl four or five times already and guess what? I’m going to hit him again next year!”
Corriedale is on ITV and ITVX, STV and STV Player, at 8pm on Monday January 5th 2026
