Troubled Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell is heading for Celebrity Big Brother – after Channel 5 bosses failed to sign fellow star William Roach, it emerged yesterday.
Le Vell, 49, is in talks to appear in the next series of the reality show – which would mark his TV comeback since leaving rehab.
Sources say Celeb Big Brother had launched a double swoop for the actor and his co-star Roach, who plays Ken Barlow, following trials which saw them both cleared of sex offences.
Roach turned down the offer following talks with his ITV bosses and is set to return to the Street next month.
But insiders say Le Vell, who made a brief return to the soap after his aquittal, is in advanced talks about appearing in Celebrity Big Brother later this year.
A source said: ”They wanted a double whammy of Le Vell and Roach – to get them both would have been perfect.
”Roach was their man target because Le Vell seems a bit unstable. But he said no because he was determined to get back on Corrie.
“But Le Vell has been so badly hit by his trial he sees it as a form of therapy and a way to get back in the public eye.”
