Coronation Street fans have been left stunned by actor Richard Hawley‘s accent after the Johnny Connor star made an appearance on Loose Women today (October 25).
The actor, who has now left the ITV soap, was on the show talking about life post-Corrie.
But it was his surprisingly non-northern accent that got viewers talking.
Richard Hawley isn’t a Northerner
“Wait, Richard Hawley is Southern?” one bemused fan wrote on Twitter.
Another noted: “Well I wasn’t expecting him to sound like that IRL.”
Read more: Corrie SPOILERS: Natasha says emotional goodbye to Sam
A third pondered: “His voice sounds different.”
And a fourth pointed out that it’s all part of being an actor, tweeting: “A good actor is usually able to change their accent…it’s called acting.”
Wait, Richard Hawley is southern? #loosewomen
— caroline 💜 (@CarolineCadRae) October 25, 2021
#LooseWomen Well I wasn’t expecting him to sound like that IRL 😳 #corrie
— (✿◕‿◕) (@lesleyarenshaw) October 25, 2021
His voice sounds different #loosewomen
— Selena Swift (@talyorswiftl) October 25, 2021
Life after Coronation Street for Richard
Richard was on the show talking about life after Corrie, which he bowed out of last week.
His plans were also not what anyone was expecting as he revealed he’d be taking a step back from acting.
Read more: 5 pointless soap comebacks from Corrie’s Zeedan Nazir to Bernice Blackstock in Emmerdale
Speaking to Katie Piper, Richard said: “Firstly, I’m going to train and volunteer in a forest school nearby where I live.
“I did a bit of work in one and they’re just fantastic places for kids. Families come as well, and I did washing up on my volunteering days.
“We are going to be fundraising and creating a pilot project around play, mental health and nature, primarily for children to start with.
“I hope to make a documentary about that, we are going to spend a year getting it all set up.
“It is something that I am looking forward to immensely.
“I will be going to do some acting work too along the way but the Forest School Association is something I am very passionate about, particularly getting kids out and about again after the past 18 months.”
The actor, who has played Johnny since 2015, also revealed that because he lives in Brighton, he was finding the trek to Manchester a bit much.
He said: “Over the seven years, it was a good set of stories.
“Sally Ann [Matthews, estranged wife Jenny in the soap] and I had always wanted to do what was a really great love story and to be perfectly honest, if you want to do a really great love story, somebody has to die. It has to be over. And that’s what we wanted.
“That’s why I stepped up really and said I was ready to go.”
How did viewers react to Johnny’s Corrie departure?
Corrie fans were left heartbroken when Johnny lost his life in a sinkhole tragedy last week.
He was planning on quitting the cobbles to start a new life in Bali with daughter Kate.
But fate played Johnny a cruel hand as he tried to save Jenny from the sinkhole which caused chaos when a storm hit Weatherfield.
He heard his late son Aidan’s voice as he helped Jenny out of the manhole tunnel.
Through the tunnel, Jenny told Johnny she loved him and he told her he loved her too before letting go and going underwater.
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