Coronation Street (ITV, 7.30pm and 8.30pm)

PROUD Mancunian and life-long fan of ITV soap Coronation Street, singer Shayne Ward had heard his name being bandied about as a potential new cast member, but says he "didn't have a clue" where the rumour originated from.

For a while, he thought people had confused him with Sean Ward, who plays Weatherfield's resident bad boy, Callum. But a little later, he received an email from the show's producer, who wanted to discuss his casting.

"It was absolutely crazy how it just came about, but thank God it did," exclaims the 30-year-old, who won the second series of X Factor back in 2005. He'll be playing businessman Aidan Connor, a distant relative of Michelle Connor – played by Kym Marsh who, of course, also found fame through a TV singing contest, winning Popstars in 2000.

"She's been in Corrie for nine years and just signed on for another year. It just shows what an incredible job Kym's done," says Ward, who doesn't want to give away any spoilers, but does reveal that Aidan, who's been in Tenerife with his father, receives a secret phone call detailing Carla Connor's financial problems.

"He comes back to see what's going on," he explains. "Aidan's very ambitious and obviously has dealings with the factory (owned by Carla), because he wants to help out in any way that he can."

Ward would like to think he shares similar business acumen to Aidan. "I've always been older-headed, as they put it. I've always wanted to work, I've always been careful with whatever money I've made. I've built my own house, things like that."

The performer has six siblings and credits his large clan for instilling an interest in acting from a young age.

"Coming from an Irish family, we would always role play and joke about, saying, 'This face is for TV'," he recalls.

But it was his appearance on X Factor a decade ago that catapulted Ward to fame.

"I was 21 on the very first live show, and you're thinking, 'Live crowd, three judges', and then you've got millions at home watching. You're thinking, 'Don't mess up, don't mess up – just sing the song as best you can'."

He might have sung live to millions on the show, but Ward confesses his first day on the Corrie set was "really nerve-racking".

Not that he let it show. "I hide it very well," he says. On the prospect of more TV fame, Ward replies: "I always say, 'Complain when they don't come up to you, not when they do'. I'm ready for it. I just have to brace myself."

He faced scepticism from certain quarters when he was cast as an American rock star in a 2011 production of Rock Of Ages.

"And then at the end of last year, I did The War Of The Worlds and I played the Artilleryman," adds Ward, who appeared on Dancing On Ice in 2013.

"It's one of those things. I use it as my strength to go, 'I'll prove you wrong'. It helps."

In April, Ward released Closer, his first album since 2010's Obsession, and is taking to the stage in various live shows this summer. So despite his soap role, music's still very much something he cares about.

"I would hate to close the door on it. If you're given an opportunity, you go for it, because you blink and you're literally 60, 70 years old, and you don't want to kick yourself, going, 'Why did I do that?' So I'll never give it up," he says.

"I feel I can do both. I know at the weekend, I'll be absolutely knackered, but it's just a fine balancing act more than anything."

Ward has signed a year's contract with Coronation Street, and "then I guess it's down to the general public, and whether they fall in love with the character and whether the storylines work".

Viv Hardwick