Corrie star opens new Wolverhampton city centre store

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• published: 04 Nov 2013
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Coronation Street star Alan Halsall (COR) left the cobbles behind to meet fans as he opened a new city centre store to the delight of staff. The actor, who plays popular mechanic Tyrone Dobbs, arrived in Wolverhampton to open the Co-Operative Travel agents at the entrance of the Wulfrun Centre in Dudley Street. And the new father was all smiles as he happily showed off pictures of his eight-week-old daughter Sienna-Rae with wife and former Corrie actress Lucy-Jo Hudson to fans. They queued up to meet and have a picture with the soapstar who shared gossip from The Street including his role in the current Roy and Hayley tear-jerking plot as she battles cancer. He said fans were in for a rollercoaster ride as all of the Christmas episodes have already been filmed. "It has been a really good storyline and I'm pleased to even have a small part of it but it is a bit full on," he said. "I'm not quite as busy as I was last year with the storyline with Tyrone and Kirsty but I'm still really enjoying it." Alan said he had been glued to Strictly Come Dancing for the first time to see how Natalie Gumede, who played his wife on the show, got on. "She has been amazing. I'm not very up on all the dances but I really enjoying it," he said. "We worked together every day for over a year and we become really good mates. "I saw she broken her dance partner's nose dancing on the show. I tweeted him to say 'welcome to my world'." He said he enjoyed trips down to the Black Country, saying he enjoys meeting fans and deciphering the accent. "It is really nice to come down as this is the second time I've been to Wolverhampton and the fans are great, plus I love the accent," he said. Among his fans queuing up for an autograph were Nikita (COR) Doran (COR) aged 17 and Joey Halland (COR), 15, from Heath Town, Wolverhampton. Nikita said: "He was really friendly and it was nice to get to meet him." Midcounties Co-Operative Travel's head of branches Natalie Turner, said: "We are really happy to open this new store. We have moved from Lichfield Street in the city centre because the nature of shopping in Wolverhampton has moved more down to this area. We are also opening a new Co-Operative Travel at the Sainsbury's at Bentley Bridge and Alan is coming along later."