Why was Coronation Street star Jack P. Shepherd attacked in Asda?
Coronation Street star Jack P. Shepherd was attacked by an "old woman" when the then-12-year-old actor and his mum Janet shopped in Asda because the viewer failed to distinguish between his alter ego David Platt's persona and Jack's character traits.
Coronation Street star Jack P. Shepherd was "really beat" by an elderly woman in a supermarket when he was just 12 years old.
The 37-year-old actor - who has played David Platt in the ITV soap since 2000 - recalled going shopping with his mum Janet when they were accosted by an "old" lady, who was unimpressed by his soap alter ego, prompting his parent to intervene when she lashed out.
Jack told his Coronation Street co-star Ben Price, 54, and his former soap colleague Colson Smith, 27, on the latest episode of their On the Sofa podcast: "I was recognised by an old woman in the freezer section. I was with my mum doing the big shop.
"And [the woman] started to hit me with a handbag.
"Before saying anything. She was so furious to see me.
"I was just cheeky. So I'd have been 12.
"[The woman] full on really beat me with a bag.
"My mum went up [to the woman]. I think my mum kind of like half laughed it off and went, 'It's not real.'"
Elsewhere in the podcast, Jack remembered he once faked being a Co-Op worker so police could stop die-hard Coronation Street fans from mobbing him.
The soap star switched on the Christmas Lights in the West Yorkshire town of Kippax, and thousands of people turned up to see him kick off the festive celebrations
Once the lights had been switched on, Jack recalled a "siege" of people rushing towards him, and he had to seek refuge in a nearby Co-Op supermarket.
He said: "There was a sea of people [that] turned up to see a young David Platt. I must have been about 13, 14, something like that. Really young.
"And I turned on their Christmas lights, and there was a siege.
"They all started to head towards [me] and tried to climb on the stage.
"They tried to get on, and I had to be escorted into the Co-Op.
"[The Co-Op staff] had to lock the doors of the Co-Op. All the Co-Op workers were in there, and we couldn't get out because they surrounded the building.
"I couldn't get out and go through the crowds because there were too many [fans]."
Worried that Jack's safety was at risk, police escorted him out of Kippax.
He dressed up as a Co-Op worker and hid his face to avoid being seen by a rush of fans, but his disguise did not work.
Jack revealed: "Honestly, [there were] too many [fans]. We had to then get a police escort out of Kippax.
"The police were called because I was a small child.
"And police escorts had to arrive on motorbikes, and they had to put blue lights on, blue light me out.
"I had the hat and I had the t-shirt.
"I was going out, I was going out through the crowds, keeping my head down [as a] Co-Op worker. And I got into the car.
"And I handed the hat back to one of the Co-Op workers.
"And then [all the fans] turned like zombies. And they all went, 'He's there!' And they all ran towards me.
"And I dived in the car. And the police had to blue light me out [of Kippax].
"And I remember physically watching the police on the bikes, and they were kicking people back. They were literally kicking people back."
