Jack P. Shepherd has reportedly been handed a new contract for ‘Coronation Street’.
The 26-year-old actor – who stars as tearaway David Platt on the long-running ITV soap – was reprimanded earlier this year after making insensitive comments on Twitter about a fire at a Manchester dog’s home.
However, it’s now been revealed the star has been given a new big-money contract, but bosses are keen to reassure viewers that the deal was made before the incident and that he was not "rewarded" for his actions.
An insider explained: "What Jack Wrote on Twitter was unforgivable and is future on the show was seriously in doubt.
"But just days before we had given him a new one-year contract. He is one of the biggest stars on the show and we wanted to recognise that.
"That said, we completely understand how it looks and we would hate for people to think we have rewarded him for his terrible behaviour."
And it now seems that Jack’s contract may have been altered following the posts he wrote about the fire, which caused the death of over 50 animals.
The source added to The Sun newspaper: "We don’t know whether his new deal would have been affected by what he said on Twitter, but there is definitely a chance it would have been."
Apologising after the controversy, Jack said: "This was not intended to be a malicious tweet and I didn’t consider the offence it would cause."
He recently returned to the social networking site after Corrie bosses banned him from using it for several weeks.
Jack P. Shepherd given new Coronation Street contract
