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One Coronation Street newcomer could have played a very different role on the ITV soap had things worked out. But for the first five times that Shameless actor Aaron McCusker auditioned for the show, it never worked out. So when the role of Ben Driscoll came up and he got a call to audition, actor Aaron hoped this would be his time. That it was, as the star secured the role of Eva Price's husband, and the new landlord of The Rovers Return. But he told The Mirror of his bad luck with previous roles on the show, not being quite right for the other parts. One of the roles he tried out for was Todd Grimshaw, now played by Gareth Pierce , while other parts were more minor characters. He shared: "I was in a play in Dublin and my agent phoned me and said they wanted to see me for this. "I got very excited because I’ve auditioned for Corrie before, this was my sixth time. It wasn’t always for a lead role, I think the last time was 14 episodes. My agent said, ‘It didn’t go your way, they really, really loved you but they want you for something bigger.’ "And they were true to their word. When they phoned me with this and I knew it was to be landlord of the Rovers, it doesn’t get much bigger than that." Aaron ended up auditioning with a screen test opposite Eva actress Catherine Tyldesley. Aaron also knew the other four guys going up for the part, while he kept their identities under wraps. There was also a change to the character as the auditions got underway, with Aaron told to perform with his Irish accent instead of putting on a Manchester accent. He was soon told: "Four days later I got a call saying the part was mine and they wanted me to be Irish. It was brilliant because I’ve got a wife and three kids and I’ve been away doing plays. The last job I was doing I went nine weeks without seeing my wife and kids. "So I was chuffed that I was going to be in basically a full time job, just to be able to say I’m home and I’m staying home and I can drive in to work. I’m over the moon. It still hasn’t really hit me yet, actually." Comparing the role to his Shameless character Jamie Maguire, he told us: "The only similarities are that Ben has a bit of a temper which comes to fruition every now and again, and they’ve both got crazy mums who rule the roost. Apart from that, not really. "I’m just going to take him a different way." He also teased some further arrivals further down the line. He shared: "There's an ex-wife and we’ve talked about my brother as well. It’ll be interesting, there’s lots of different directions it could go and I’m very excited to see where it does go." Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITV X. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
