Corrie star Jack P Shepherd appears to spoil his character’s exit from soap

Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd has appeared to spoil that his character David Platt will exit the soap in dramatic scenes on Wednesday.

Appearing via a video call on This Morning, the actor said it would have been “nice” to reach his 25-year milestone on the ITV show next month, but that the next instalment marked “the end”.

A clip from the episode teased on the morning programme showed David getting knocked to the ground by a car after his plan to stage a hit-and-run to claim the insurance money to pay off his debts goes wrong.

Discussing the episode, Shepherd, 37, said: “Twenty-five years – its a long time. I think it’s about 25 years next month, it would have been nice to kind of reach that milestone but sadly it’s tonight, it’s the end. But I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Asked if Wednesday’s episode is the actual end for his character, he added: “Yeah, I can’t believe we’ve managed to keep it out for so long but I think everyone will enjoy it.”

Afterwards, This Morning’s soap expert Sharon Marshall asked: “Has he just given us a massive bombshell?” to which presenter Ben Shephard replied: “I think he might have.”

Shepherd joined the long-running soap in 2000 to portray David, the son of Gail – formerly played by Helen Worth, and Martin Platt, taking over the role from Thomas Ormson who portrayed the character as a child.

Viewers have watched the character grow up over the years and become rebellious, often feuding with others including his mother and sister Sarah Platt, played by Tina O’Brien.

His dramatic storylines include his then-girlfriend Tina McIntyre, played by Michelle Keegan, falling pregnant and Gail secretly paying for her to have an abortion.

It was later revealed that hairdresser David had been responsible for pushing his mother down the stairs during an argument after he found out about the abortion.

He later had a daughter, Lily, with his ex-wife Kylie Turner and he became a father figure to her son Max.

Tragedy struck David when his wife Kylie was fatally stabbed, but he later met Shona Ramsey, played by Julia Goulding, and they married.

His latest dramatic storyline has seen David get involved in the gangster world, and to secure the money he owes he has asked Andy to run him over so he can use the life insurance money to pay his debts.

The clip on This Morning teases that things will go astray when Daisy Midgeley, played by Charlotte Jordan, steps out at the moment he is about to get run over, forcing him to push her out of the way.

Reflecting on his time on the soap, Shepherd said: “It’s all I’ve ever know, I’ve been playing this part now longer than what I was playing Jack Shepherd, which is mind-blowing, really.

“But I’ve loved my time here, I love the character and it’s a really special, special episode.”

Shepherd has said that it had been a “really fun” episode to film as it had been the first time he was in every scene.

His chaotic storyline comes after Worth said goodbye to her character Gail Rodwell in an emotional Christmas Day episode after 50 years on the cobbles.

Shepherd also revealed that this is not the first time he has teased a dramatic end, as he recalled telling This Morning viewers when Kylie was going to die, adding: “It went down in history and a lot of people watched it.”

Coronation Street continues on ITV at 8pm.