Coronation Street stalwart Ken Barlow has incurred the wrath of viewers with a disrespectful comment about late screen wife Deirdre.
Ken (William Roache) upset fans when he tried to convince pregnant Sinead Tinker (Katie McGlynn) to leave his son Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) so that he could take up a university place at Oxford.
In the scene in Monday night’s episode, Ken said: “Not once did I have with Deirdre the conversation that I craved. There was never any real meeting of minds.
“I’ll always be grateful to Deirdre for the life we had but it’s not the life I would have chosen at 22.”
One annoyed fan made reference to Deirdre’s other on-off relationship with Mike Baldwin.
So Ken just settled for Deirdre? No wonder she ran off with Mike #Corrie
— KayleighTeeVee (@Kayleighann88) March 21, 2017
That’s NO way to sum up your life with Deirdre, is it Ken? You’ve gone down in my estimation fella. R.I.P. Anne x @itvcorrie
— Steven A. Lomas (@Steven_A_Lomas) March 20, 2017
Ken is bang out of order #corrie #coronationstreet it’s not nice to say things about Deirdre especially when she was so important to him.
— Isobel Brown (@izzles25) March 20, 2017
Others thought Ken was unfairly laying the blame on Deirdre.
You what Ken? You were a middle-aged man when you married Deirdre, how exactly did she stop you fulfilling your dreams? #Corrie
— Rebecca Miller (@Beckie_Miller_) March 20, 2017
Ken is mugging deirdre off in a major way. I’m not impressed #corrie
— nerdling (@thekindlekid) March 20, 2017
I hope Deirdre haunts Ken. #Corrie
— LYD (@whatlyddid) March 20, 2017
nah Ken don’t you dare bring Deirdre into this
— Anna (@Maguireeeeee) March 20, 2017
However, TV presenter Fern Britton thought William had put on an impressive performance.
Wow! Kens speech of bitterness and regret on @itvcorrie was so beautifully written and delivered !
— FernBritton (@Fern_Britton) March 20, 2017
Ken and Deirdre were married twice in the ITV soap, in 1981 and 2005.
In 2014, Deirdre appeared for the last time before Anne Kirkbride, who played her, left because of health problems. She died in January 2015.
Deirdre’s death was later announced in the programme and prompted an outpouring of grief from fans when her funeral scenes were aired.