Nigel Havers has been appearing in pantomimes for 14 years to "get out of Christmas".
The ‘Coronation Street’ actor admits he isn’t "a fan" of the festive period because it "starts too early and ends too late", so he prefers to tread the boards to distract himself from the festivities.
When asked if panto ruins his Christmas, the ‘Snow White’ star said: "No, it gets you out of it. It means you don’t have to participate in it. I haven’t been a fan of Christmas for 14 years, which is how long I’ve been doing panto for. I think Christmas goes on way too long.
"It starts too early and ends too late. I like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day but the rest just drags on.
"We have to work in this on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day – we only get Christmas Day off – but having done it for so many years I’ve kind of got the handle on that."
Nigel has been so wrapped up in his ‘Snow White’ rehearsals he "forgot" about filming his festive ‘Coronation Street’ scenes as conman Lewis Archer.
He said: "I’d actually forgotten all about that because I’m in the middle of this.
"I finished that on one day and started this on the next so there was no moment to recover. It’s all done and dusted and in the can."
Lewis looks set to meet his maker in upcoming scenes, and Nigel has added fuel to such rumours by joking he cannot say what is going to happen to his character otherwise he will be "killed".
Speaking to Metro newspaper, he added: "I’m not allowed to give anything away otherwise I would be killed.
"No, no, that’s not a clue but they would shoot me. That’s not a clue, either. I would be poisoned. Not a clue. They would rip the heart out of me."
This comes after Nigel recently admitted his future on the soap is "looking grim".
Speaking about the speculated storyline, he said: "It’s not looking good – it’s looking grim."
Nigel Havers does panto to ‘get out of Christmas’
