Ronnie Bailey is coming to Coronation Street as the ITV soap is introducing another member of the family with Ed’s brother.
Described as “ruthless” and “charming”, the new character is set to cause chaos with a devastating secret.
Corrie producer Iain Macleod revealed the news to ED! and other press at a 2021 preview.
He said: “Ed’s brother Ronnie turns up and he is a massive injection of chaos, energy and humour.
“He’s just a real jack the lad and will tip their currently-quite-cosy lifestyle on its head. He’ll be setting many cats among many pigeons up and down the street, much to Ed’s exasperation at times.”
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Iain added that Ronnie will arrive as Grace goes into labour with Michael’s baby.
He said: “Ronnie will arrive off the back of quite a big family drama and he turns up with a secret.
“He comes in at the worst possible moment, when Michael and Grace are trying to contend with the arrival of their slightly premature baby.
Coronation Street introducing brother of Ed Bailey
“Then in comes Ed’s brother Ronnie – holding the hand grenade with the pin already out and just wondering when to drop it.
“As you can predict in a show like ours, he drops it at a point where it will do maximum damage. It’s not through any malice, it’s just because he can’t help himself.”
And longtime Coronation Street viewers will recognise something of Danny Baldwin – Bradley Walsh’s character – in Ronnie Bailey.
Iain explains: “Ronnie reminds me a lot of Danny Baldwin.
“He can be slightly ruthless but also irrepressibly charming. He’s got that vibe about him and it’s something the show hasn’t had for a while, so I’m extremely excited to bring him in.
“The performer that we’ve hired is fabulous – he’s a really, really strong actor.”
Iain also teased that there are other big stories lined up for the Baileys in 2021.
He said: “There will be a happy ending for James with his homophobia in football story. That will be playing out over the first six months of 2021.
“Furthermore, we’ve got Michael and Grace. We’re going to try to use their situation for a certain amount of comedy throughout the year.
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“Obviously Grace will now be tied forever to Aggie, who can’t stand her and vice versa. So there’ll be lots of humour to play there.
“But also in the background to all of this, we’re doing a slow-burn exploration of systemic racism.
“Obviously we touched upon that subject area with verbal racism earlier in 2020, but we’ll now be playing out a more long-form exploration of systemic racism, which is of the more insidious and almost subliminal form.”
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