Corrie's Chris: Peter is an idiot

Coronation Street star Chris Gascoyne has confessed he is flummoxed by his character Peter Barlow's popularity with viewers.

Peter and his lover, fellow alcoholic Carla Connor, are planning to kidnap his son Simon after his wife Leanne was awarded sole custody.

Chris revealed to Inside Soap magazine that viewers "never give me a hard time", which he finds a bit "weird".

He said: "They seem to like Peter, which is weird, because you really shouldn't. He's an idiot! He's a flawed character, though, rather than an evil one - so you ultimately don't want him to suffer something terrible."

And the soap star - who is taking a few months break from the show - admitted he doesn't even know what advice he could give Peter.

He said: "It's very easy to give advice, but I'm not in Peter's situation. I can understand why he does what he does - the scripts are very well written when it comes to that - but I hope that I'm never put in his position. It's just an awful place to be."