Shayne Ward was only invited to audition for ‘Coronation Street’ after fans thought he had signed up for the soap when Sean Ward joined the cast.
The 34-year-old star played Aidan Connor on the ITV soap from 2015 to 2018, but show bosses only asked him to try out for the programme after supporters created some "hype" when they mistakenly started congratulating Shayne on the role of Callum Logan, when it was in fact Sean who had landed the part.
He said: "You’ll remember a bad boy in it called Callum, who the Platts killed.
"A lot of people were messaging me on social media saying, ‘Congratulations on getting the role of Callum.’
"I thought, ‘I’ve got nothing to do with the show.’ Then I clicked on that Callum’s real name was Sean Ward.
"Because of that and the little bit of hype, ‘Coronation Street’ contacted my management and said, ‘We would like Shayne to come in for an audition, how would he feel?’
"I was like, ‘Too right!’
"That was my very first TV role. The only acting I did before that was a show called ‘Rock of Ages’."
After landing the role in such an unusual way, Shayne admitted he experienced impostor syndrome, in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and fears they may be "exposed".
When asked if he had impostor syndrome at all, he said: "Oh you do. I think, naturally, when you come from a different part of the industry into something else you do feel people are going to look at you and go, ‘We’ll see if they’re any good.’ "
But the former ‘X Factor’ star had plenty of encouragement from his cobbles co-stars, including Bill Roache, who has played Ken Barlow since the show’s first-ever episode on 9 December 1960.
Speaking on ‘Loose Women’, he added: "Some of the best advice I got was from some of the senior people there. One time I was going to the toilet and Bill Roache was walking out the other way.
"I was like, ‘Hi Ken.’ And he said, ‘Hi Shayne, how is it going? How long have you been here?’
"’Two months, you?’ He said, ‘Try 50-odd years, Shayne.’ "
Shayne Ward joined Coronation Street after Sean Ward ‘hype’
