Alan Halsall is one of the campmates battling it out on I’m A Celebrity 2024, vying to be crowned the King of the Jungle.
The Coronation Street actor was confirmed on the line-up as he landed Down Under earlier this week – although he remained discreet about the purpose of his visit at the time.
But what is he known for? Who does he share a child with? And what happened last year that landed him in hospital and out of the show? Read on to find out…
I’m A Celebrity 2024: What campmate Alan Halsall is famous for
Born in Greater Manchester on August 11, 1982, Alan Halsall is a 42-year-old English actor.
He’s best known for playing Tyrone Dobbs in the ITV soap Coronation Street and he’s a fan-favourite. So much so that he’s been the recipient of the coveted Best Actor Award at the British Soap Awards. In 2013, he also won the National Television Awards for Outstanding Serial Drama Performance for his portrayal of the mechanic.
Alan made his debut on the show in 1998, meaning he’s been on the show for 26 years. And, happily for fans, he’s only taking a short break for his I’m A Celebrity stint. After taking on snakes, bugs and the toughest challenges, he’ll return to filming.
Although Alan rose to fame through his portrayal of Tyrone on Corrie, he has starred in numerous other television shows. He made his TV debut in Children’s Ward in 1997, in which he played the role of Ollie.
He’s also appeared in Heartbeat, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates and Queer As Folk.
Alan Halsall’s ‘mid-life crisis’ after divorcing ex-wife Lucy-Jo Hudson
Romance brewed between Alan and Lucy-Jo Hudson in 2002 after they met on the sets of Corrie. They tied the knot in 2009 and welcomed daughter Sienna Rae in 2013.
Alan and Lucy were seen as one of the most adored off-screen couples during their romance. So their decision to call it quits on their long-term relationship in 2018 came as a shock to fans.
Neither Alan nor Lucy revealed the exact reason for their divorce. However, sources allegedly told The Sun that the decision to part ways was “very amicable”.
The unnamed source claimed: “Alan’s been joking that he’s having a mid-life crisis and he went and treated himself to a brand-new car five days ago. It’s a difficult time for both of them.”
Following the split, Lucy said: “I can confirm Al and I are in the process of divorcing. We remain friends and devoted Mummy and Daddy to our daughter Sienna.”
Lucy-Jo moved on with her panto co-star Lewis Devine after her marriage ended. The pair welcomed their first baby, a boy called Carter, in February 2020.
Instagram outburst quickly deleted
Following Carter’s birth, Alan appeared to react to a post Lewis made about the bond he shares with Sienna, in which he called the tot “our Sienna”.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, Alan said: “You’re welcome to keep the lying cheating one and call her your own! But not my daughter.” Lewis was thought to have reacted at the time, uploading a series of Instagram posts, with one urging his followers to “be kind”.
Opening up about the reported feud, Lucy-Jo admitted to OK! that co-parenting with an ex can be “challenging”. Lucy-Jo said: “I had literally just given birth to Carter when he posted that, so I didn’t see it and my head was elsewhere. He quickly deleted it so he must have regretted it. I didn’t bother bringing it up with him. Lew and I were both too focused on Carter so it just didn’t get our attention.”
Lucy-Jo added that everybody who has a blended family “knows it’s not easy”. She also opened up about how she and Alan sometimes have differing views on how Sienna is raised.
The star revealed: “Me and Alan sometimes have different views on raising Sienna, so trying to co-parent can be challenging. But Lewis and I try to keep things like that very private. Sienna isn’t aware of what happened and all that matters is that she has loving parents on both sides.”
Adorable moments with daughter Sienna
There’s no doubt that Alan is a doting father to his beloved daughter – his Instagram is full of wholesome father/daughter moments.
He shared an adorable picture with the 11-year-old ahead of his flight to Australia. The post featured him and Sienna giggling in side-by-side images. He captioned it: “A daughter may outgrow her father’s lap, but she’ll never outgrow his heart.”
Alan’s Instagram is littered with pictures of his little princess, including one from fireworks night earlier this month.
I am very emotional about Sienna, so it will be interesting to see how I cope.
The I’m A Celebrity contestant called Sienna his “little Firework” in a picture captioned: “She could illuminate even the darkest of skies.”
Of all the things he’s going to miss about home, the actor is most affected by the fact that he’ll be away from his daughter and hopes that he won’t “embarrass her”.
“We never spend more than two weeks apart. I am very emotional about Sienna, so it will be interesting to see how I cope,” he told ITV before heading into camp.
“I tend to try to hide my emotions but with Sienna I’m not very good at all – I think I will have several blubs. She is 11 and so I’m hoping I won’t embarrass her.”
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Alan Halsall and ex-girlfriend Tisha Merry only went public after she left Corrie
After his split from Lucy-Jo, Alan enjoyed a five-year romance with Corrie co-star Tisha Merry.
They met on the ITV soap while playing Tyrone and Steph Britton, but – despite rumours they were dating – the pair only made their relationship public after Tisha left the soap.
Tisha Merry opened up about how her romance with Alan blossomed in 2020. She told OK!: “We first met on Corrie years ago and I remember thinking how Alan was so nice, professional and really kind. Then a while later, I moved to Worsley near Alan and I started going to this yoga studio. One day I got a message from him saying he went to the same studio and we should go together one day.
“It was about nine months of friendship at the start. It’s nice that we built a strong foundation before anything romantic.”
Sadly, the couple announced their split earlier this year, with sources claiming to the Mirror that they were “keen to amicably move on” and focus on their respective projects.
As for the reason for their split, a source claimed to The Sun: “Alan and Tisha started to drift apart and feel the pressure of making their relationship work get on top of them. They realised they weren’t on the same page and splitting up felt like the best option.”
Alan is reportedly dating again. Back in May, he joked about a new picture for his Tinder profile.
Actor suffered a ‘major’ knee injury last year
Rumors claimed that Alan pulled out of I’m A Celebrity 2023 due to a “major injury” he suffered to his knee last November.
Posting to Instagram, he revealed that he underwent ACL reconstruction surgery. The damaged ACL was removed and replaced with a tendon from another area of the leg.
He kept his fans posted about his rehabilitation at the time and said he would need about a year to recover fully, which led to rumours that he wouldn’t have been able to participate in the show’s Bushtucker Trials.
“It was a bit of a shock when I got the knee injury last year and whilst I am signed off surgically, I still have several months of physio ahead of me,” he told ITV in a health update ahead of the series launch.
Warning from his Corrie co-star
Clearly much-loved on the set of his ITV soap, Alan will have the backing of his Corrie co-stars as he heads into the jungle.
However, speaking on Lorraine after his name was announced, co-star Maureen Lipman had a warning for his jungle buddies and ITV… “I could kill him honestly,” she shared. “He was going to go last year but hurt his knee. If they harm one hair on that boy’s head, although he hasn’t got much, or give him turkey testicles, I will personally kill them,” she quipped.
Maureen then said: “He will be fine though because he is a lovely human being. His life is very sorted, and he is a better actor than you would ever know. He likes his golf, and he will be very guarded at first but if people get underneath, they will find out he is a lovely person.”
His ‘worst fear’ isn’t the food
Alan is used to eating “bland food” at home, so he isn’t worried about his diet in the jungle.
However, while he isn’t scared of anything at home, Alan confessed he doesn’t know how he would feel about having “10 snakes” on his head as he’s never been in a similar situation before.
He said: “I’m A Celebrity is something I have always shied away from in the past. You are never going to get me on the ice, dancing isn’t my thing and this will be much harder than filming a scene in Corrie.”
Alan will be following in the footsteps of his co-stars Andrew Whyment and Antony Cotton. The Corrie stars appeared in series 11 and series 19 of I’m A Celebrity respectively.
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Catch Alan in I’m A Celebrity 2024, which kicks off on Sunday, November 17 at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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