Jason Manford made plea to Waterloo Road bosses after ‘inappropriate’ love interest-Ruth Lawes-Entertainment – Metro

Jason Manford has revealed he only accepted his role as headteacher Steve Savage on Waterloo Road on the condition they change his character’s love interest.

The comedian, 43, said his daughters were grossed out by an initial storyline that involved Steve having an on-off relationship with a much younger teacher aged 24.

After his daughters had a ‘funny’ reaction, the father-of-six explained on today’s This Morning he asked producers to find a more ‘age-appropriate’ partner for Steve.

They granted his wishes and made 48-year-old actress Kym Marsh’s character Nicky Walters Steve’s main love interest.

On the ITV show, Jason explained to presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard: ‘My daughters had a funny reaction as I told them roughly the storyline and at that point he was going to have a will-they-won’t-they with one of the teachers.

‘My daughters went, “Ewww”. I said, “What do you mean? That’s just part of the storyline, that’s not me, it’s character.” And they went, “That teacher, she is about 24 and you’re 43, you weirdo.”

Jason’s character Steve was initially going to have a romance with a teacher in her 20s (Picture: BBC/Wall to Wall/Warner Brothers TV Production Services Ltd)

Jason said his daughters thought his character’s storyline was ‘weird’ (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

‘I was like, “Alright, fine.” So I had to get back in touch with the producers to go, “I will do it, but can you change the love interest to someone more age-appropriate?”

‘[They changed it to] Kym Marsh, who wasn’t difficult to fall in love with.’

Jason’s character Steve has joined Waterloo Road season 14 along with his son Billy Savage, played by Hollyoaks star Olly Rhodes, who is the latest new student at the school.

Throughout the series, Billy finds himself targeted by bully Schuey Weaver (Zac Sutcliffe), with Steve crossing a serious line when he tries to defend his son.

However, after he made a plea to producers they changed it to Kym’s character Nicky (Picture: BBC/Wall to Wall/Warner Brothers TV Production Services Ltd)

Nicky was devastated after her mother Barabra died after a stroke (Picture: BBC/Wall to Wall/Warner Brothers TV Production Services Ltd)

Speaking previously about Steve, Jason teased: ‘I think Steve will be, if not the most memorable, one of the most memorable headteachers at Waterloo Road because of what ends up happening.’

Waterloo Road returned with a bang last night – including the shocking death of a character.

In the episode, Kym’s character, canteen manager Nicky, was seen heading to the hospital to visit her mum Barbara (Marie Critchley), who was concerned about her high blood pressure.

But Nicky later received a call from the hospital to say that Barbara had quickly taken a turn for the worse after suffering a stroke, and had passed away.

Luckily Steve was on hand to offer her a shoulder to cry on, reigning a flame between the two old flames.

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