Coronation Street has confirmed the future of soap stalwart Jack P Shepherd as the David Platt star is heading on a break. The actor has played David since 2000 when he took over from Thomas Ormson, but is now stepping away for a little while as he goes on paternity leave.
Earlier this year, Shepherd and his wife Hanni Treweek delighted fans as they shared they were expecting their first child together. The pair tied the knot last July at Manchester Cathedral after meeting on Corrie, where Treweek worked as a script writer.
The two announced the pregnancy on Valentine’s Day this year, with Treweek captioning a sweet video of them walking through an estate as Shepherd cradled her baby bump: “We’ve been keeping a secret… June 2026. Thank you so much to the dream team who made this so special for us.”
As the couple are expected to welcome their baby into this world this month, Shepherd is taking two weeks off as paternity leave.
As reported by the Daily Star, ITV has confirmed that Jack will be stepping away from Coronation Street briefly for a “couple of weeks’ paternity leave”.
Shepherd previously confirmed he would be leaving the cobbles behind temporarily on podcast On The Sofa, which he co-hosts with Corrie co-stars Colson Smith and Ben Price.
During an episode aired earlier this month, Shepherd opened up on his third hair transplant, after undergoing the cosmetic procedure in 2018 and 2019.
Rocking a shaved head following the surgery, the actor got candid with his co-hosts, saying that it felt the right time to have his third transplant now as he would have some time off set for his paternity leave.
“I could see it, I could see it further back in the middle. I could see it going in. So it was sort of act now while I could and I had a bit of time off for the baby, so it was perfect,” Shepherd said.
“Paternity and hair transplant,” said Smith, to which Shepherd replied: “Exactly that. What a month!”
