Coronation Street’s Charlie De Melo lands first TV role since quitting the soap in new drama with Emily Atack

CORONATION Street actor Charlie De Melo is set for a telly comeback after landing his first TV role since quitting the soap more than 18 months ago.

Charlie, who is best known for playing solicitor Imran Habeeb on the ITV soap, will appear alongside huge names including Aidan Turner, Danny Dyer and David Tennant in the upcoming Disney + adaptation of Rivals.

It’s currently unclear just yet as to who Charlie will be playing in the eight-part series.

The show will also see the soap hunk reunite with actress Emily Atack, who he appeared alongside in a stage production of Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 2016.

Taking to Instagram, Charlie seemingly confirmed his involvement in the high profile series as he re-posted a behind the scenes glimpse of his latest role, which was originally posted on Emily’s Instagram feed, and told fans of his joy at getting to work with the actress again.

Captioning the photo, which shows Charlie looking a far cry from his Coronation Street days, he said: “To work with Emily Atack once is a joy. To do it twice is an unparalleled privilege," followed with a red love heart emoji. 

Emily had shared a series of snaps from the show’s set after confirming filming had wrapped.

Captioning the post, which included the photo of Charlie, Emily had written: “That’s a wrap on Rivals!! 6 months of cooking up something OUTRAGEOUS for you all.

"To be trusted to bring Jilly Cooper’s Wonder Woman Sarah Stratton to life has been a dream come true.

"I’ve made friends for life. You just wait. Thank you @happyprincetv @disneyplusuk.” 

Since sensationally quitting the ITV soap back in early 2022, Charlie has focused on stage work and appeared in Nottingham Playhouse’s production of The Clothes They Stood Up In. 

Charlie became a firm favourite with soap fans during his five years as Imran Habeeb on the show.

The character was involved in a number of huge plots throughout his time on the cobbles.

Fans were left devastated when soap bosses revealed that the character would be killed off following Charlie’s decision to leave.