Coronation Street star Bill Roache has had to reassure fans that he’s alive and well, after falling victim to a cruel hoax.
Last night (Wednesday 18 April), fans began sending their condolences after a fake news article on social media claimed that the 85-year-old soap legend was dead.
The fabricated report said that Bill’s son Linus had announced his father’s death from heart failure.
A spokesperson for Coronation Street denied the story on Bill’s behalf, insisting that the actor – who has played Ken Barlow for 58 years since the very first episode in 1960 – is alive and well.
Read more: Coronation Street fans “shouted at the screen” during tense Rana kidnap scenes
Responding to a Twitter user who asked: “Is it true that Bill Roche (Ken Barlow) has passed away?”
The official Coronation Street Twitter account answered: “Not at all. #FakeNews.”
@itvcorrie is it true that Bill Roche (Ken Barlow) has passed away.
— Leam Fox (@RoadtoWembley21) April 18, 2018
Has Bill Roache passed away? I really hope not. Amazing man and great actor. Stupid internet hoax stories 😡 @itvcorrie #corrie #billroache
— Beks 🥂 (@beks_f) April 18, 2018
Replying to another worried fan, the Corrie spokesperson insisted: “It’s a hoax.”
The lie comes just a few months after a US website incorrectly reported that Malcolm Hebden, who plays Norris Cole, had passed away.
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The fake news comes just after a difficult time for Bill… He has only recently resumed work on the ITV soap after the death of his daughter.
Vanya, the oldest of his five children, passed away at the age of 50 after suffering liver failure.
Bill’s second wife Sara Mottram, 58, passed away suddenly in 2009.
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