PUP IDOL: This Morning ANNOUNCES New Dog JOINING Coronation Street after Bizarre Talent Competition
Coronation Street has found a new dog to star on the soap. The long-running ITV programme announced in July that they were launching a competition titled Pup Idol in collaboration with This Morning, and now the lucky pup who will be treading the cobbles has been announced.
The contest was headed up by Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas, West End actress Jodie Prenger, who plays Rovers barmaid Glenda Shuttleworth, and This Morning’s resident vet Dr Scott Miller. Colson Smith, who starred as Craig Tinker on Corrie for more than a decade before being killed off earlier this year, was also on hand to offer backstage updates.
The final heat took place during Wednesday’s edition of the magazine show and English cocker spaniel Kali and her owner Zoe faced an obstacle course before the pooch woofed along to Queen classic I Want To Be Break Free. This was followed by KC spaniel shih tzu cross Elsa, who can play the piano, and her owner Caroline. The pooch faced an agility test set to Let It Go from Disney’s Frozen before bashing out a tune on a mini set of keys. It was then the turn of Boris, a Pomeranian, and his owner Sue to try to impress the judges with his dancing skills all set to Madonna classic Vogue.
In the end, though, only one canine could win the chance to walk down the nation’s favourite street, and it was decided that the lucky pooch would be Boris.
Sue told hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard: “I’m buzzing! Boris doesn’t really know what’s going on…” Colson then told the runners-up that they had won a tour of the Coronation Street set at MediaCity in Manchester, which dogs are normally not allowed on. When pressed for details of the storyline involving the pooch, Colson admitted that it is all currently under wraps.
Despite the fun nature of the competition, some viewers at home were at a loss with the bizarre nature of it. One said: “I would have thought the main skill for a tv dog would be not curling one off in the middle of a scene. Not sure any of this will come in handy tbh.”
Another added: “Has anyone explained how singing or dancing to Vogue is going to be any use for a role of a dog walking in the background of a Corrie scene?” and a third said: “I’m a dog lover but this is a load of b******* and they are dragging it out to death ffs!”
Perhaps two of the more famous dogs to have resided on the cobbles include Chesney Brown’s (Sam Aston) Great Dane Schmeichel, and Border Terrier Eccles, who lived with the Barlows at number one for several years. Other pets to have lived on the Weatherfield backstreet over the years have included Yasmeen’s pet chicken Charlotte Bronte, and rat Darryl, who arrived along with Craig Tinker (Colson Smith) shortly after his debut in 2011. Currently, café owner Roy Cropper (David Neilson) has a terrier called Freddie, whilst his close friend Evelyn Plummer (Maureen Lipman) had a greyhound known as Cerberus.
In the early days, original Street battle axe Ena Sharples (Violet Carson) received a budgie called Archie but passed it onto her friend Martha Longhurst (Lynne Carrol), and Minnie Caldwell (Margot Bryant) had a beloved cat called Bobby, who stayed with her throughout her run on the programme.
In the 1990s, Rovers landlady Natalie Barnes (Denise Welch) had a cat called Tiger, and David Platt famously had a rabbit called Barney. Jack Duckworth (Bill Tarmey) was known for keeping pigeons, and his surrogate son Tyrone Dobbs ( Alan Halsall ) found a stray one that he named after Beyonce.
