Jason Manford has refuted rumors suggesting he left his role as Steve Savage in Waterloo Road after just one season. Media reports indicated that the star ‘quit’ the show, but the comedian clarified the true reason for his departure with a humorous tweet.
Dismissing the media speculation, the 8 Out of 10 Cats personality stated, “I mean, I didn’t ‘quit’ but really tough to carry as headteacher once you’ve chucked a pupil’s dead body in the canal! It doesn’t look good on the old Ofsted report! @WaterlooRoad,” accompanied by a laughing emoji.
His tweet garnered numerous likes, with fans of the show rushing to express their admiration for his character.
One viewer remarked, “Wasn’t it just a one series contract? Mind you I’ll miss seeing you in a suit,” while another added, “Awww you were brilliant as Steve Savage.”
Another fan suggested, “Shame you can’t have some prison visits on it. One of my favorite headmasters,” with a follow-up comment jesting, “I think you’d be fine as long as all paperwork was filed correctly.”
The comedian, originally from Salford, had previously disclosed that he requested a change in his storyline on the show after his daughters found it ‘weird.’ His character had a romantic interest in canteen worker Nicky Walter, portrayed by Kym Marsh.
During an appearance on Good Morning Britain in November, he explained, “It’s very of its time I suppose so one of the storylines they mentioned was that my teacher, he’s a widower, and he was going to have this romance with this teacher.”
“They mentioned the teacher who it was, and I mentioned it to my girls, who loved the show, and they were like, ‘You can’t do that, you weirdo, she’s about 24 and you’re 43, that’s weird’.”
“I didn’t know the character, so I rang the producer and I said, look, I’d love to be in it, what a privilege to be the headteacher, but I said, I can’t have this storyline, it’s just weird, it’s just not right in today’s society’, and certainly my daughters were not happy with it.”
He continued, “So, I said, is there another more age-appropriate member of staff who maybe he could have this romance with? They said, What about Kym Marsh? And I said, I’ll see you Monday.”
In his final episode as the headteacher, Jason’s character was incarcerated for perverting the course of justice. The forthcoming series will introduce a new headteacher, Dame Stella Drake, portrayed by Lindsey Coulson.
