Coronation Street star reveals he’s signed a new contract – but it’s bad news for cobbles residents
CORRIE star Tony Maudsley has signed a new contract on the soap for another year.
The 56-year-old actor has been playing the role of undertaker George Shuttleworth since 2020 - and now he’s signed a new contract keeping him on the cobbles until July 2026.
The actor, from Liverpool, is best known for his role as hairdresser Kenneth DuBeke in the ITV comedy series Benidorm, which ended in 2018.
He has since been a part of the Coronation Street cast.
He revealed the news on Saturday, updating Coronation Street fans with the good news on X.
The former Benidorm actor wrote: “That's George serving (and burying) the good folk of Weatherfield till at least July 2026. Happy days!”
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Corrie fans responded to his post at the time, with one thrilled fan writing: “Yeyyy! Congratulations Tony. big love from the north east!”
Another fan wrote: “Brilliant news! Hope you stay at Corrie for many years! Great characters are a bit thin on the ground at the moment! Sorry Corrie! We need George to find a wife. Then for them to become the new " Jack and Vera" of the Street. Hard act to follow but you are the man to do it!”
While a third wrote: “That’s excellent news, I love your character, have done since the beginning which is unusual for me lol. I’m looking forward to seeing how you grow after Eileen leave
However, given he plays an undertaker, some fans are concerned this means there’ll be more deaths on the cobbles.
It comes as Corrie last year announced they would be retaining other major stars by offering them bumper deals, including Bill Roache, 91, Helen Worth, 73, and Tina O’Brien, 40.
Since joining the ITV soap, George’s storylines have included a romance with long-running character Eileen Grimshaw, taking her machiavellian son Todd (Gareth Pierce) under his wing at the funeral directors and discovering he is related to the Platt family.
He previously appeared on the show back in 1995 as hard man Bailey in 1995, a mate of a loanshark who had lent money to Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) to pay off his gambling debts, and before that, he was a regular extra in the background of scenes.
Tony has previously starred in numerous TV shows including Doc Martin, Miss Marple and Ordinary Lives.
He has also featured in many films including 1999's Sleepy Hollow, playing Van Ripper with Johnny Depp.
Tony joined the star-studded Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix cast, as Grawp, Hagrid's giant brother.
Tony also had a role in the The Bad Education Movie as a barman and also been in Irish Jam and Bright Young Things.
In December 2023, he joined the Coronation Street team on the annual festive ITV show The Big Quiz: Coronation Street vs Emmerdale.
Tony was recently a victim of fraud after he ended up getting scammed while trying to buy Oasis tour tickets.
He took to social media and issued a warning to fans over people on Facebook who claim to be selling tour tickets to see the British rock band perform.
Tony wrote at the time: "Gutted. Thought I’d lucked out and got 4 OASIS tickets for my brothers birthday.
"Guy on Facebook who appeared to have mutual friends. I sent £600 to his bank. He kept messaging me saying it hadn’t cleared.”
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Luckily, his bank managed to get all his money back but he issued a warning to fans trying to buy tickets.
Coronation Street airs on ITV1 and is available on ITVX.
