Coronation Street legend Michael Le Vell has revealed why he let out a ‘sigh of relief’ as he provided a major career update on his future in the cobbles.

The 61-year-old actor has been playing Kevin Webster on the ITV soap since he was just 18 years old. Making his debut in 1983, Kevin has gone on to become one of the most beloved characters in Corrie’s history.

It was a difficult Christmas for the character, with his brother Carl (Jonathan Howard) continuing to use their sister Debbie Webster’s (Sue Devaney) devastating health diagnosis for his own advantage. Since being introduced to viewers earlier in the year, Carl and Kevin’s relationship hasn’t been smooth sailing.

Not only was Kevin devastated by learning his wife Abi (Sally Carman) was having an affair with his brother, but Kevin has to deal with seeing them together as a couple. To make matters worse, it appears that he will be ringing in 2026 on his own.

Despite being a mainstay on Coronation Street, Michael has insisted he never takes having a job on the show for granted because writers can always run out of plots for the characters.

He told the Mirror: “You can never take the job for granted. My contract was due in January and I’ve just been offered a new one, so I can breathe a sigh of relief for another year.

“But you can never look beyond that. They might say ‘you know what, we can’t write for you, we don’t know what to write for you anymore. Thank you and goodbye.’ That’s the nature of the beast.”

Now the soap’s second longest-serving actor behind Bill Roach, who plays Ken Barlow, Michael admitted that he still gets nervous ahead of a big scene. He explained: “Not a day goes by where I don’t get nervous.

“I get a churning stomach and I feel apprehensive, especially if I’m in every scene. It’s even more stressful if I’m in a scene with someone like Bill Roache or Barbara Knox – mainly out of respect – or if I’m in a big scene in the Rovers.

“If there are lots of people in the pub, when it comes to your bit, you’re thinking ‘don’t mess up, don’t mess up.’ Otherwise, they’ll all have to go back and do their dialogue again, so that’s an added pressure.”

In spite of there being fan speculation that Kevin could be set to reunite with ex-wife Sally Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor), Michael would much rather see the mechanic back in the arms of his spouse, Abi, moving forward.

He said: “People ask me all the time if I’d like Kevin to get back with Sally and I always say no. It’s because I love Sally and Tim together. I think they’re a great couple, so I wouldn’t want them splitting up, just so I can get back with Sally.

“I’d get back with Abi, because I love working with Sally Carman. I hope they find a way to reconcile them in 2026, but at this moment in time, that’s not on the cards either.”

While Christmas was a dramatic as ever on Corrie, most fans are counting down the days until Coronation Street and Emmerdale come together for a special Corriedale episode. Michael was honoured to be part of the storyline, which involves a devastating car crash on a country road.

He noted: “It was an honour to be part of Corriedale because these things don’t come around too often. I was in a scene with a couple of Emmerdale actors – Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle) and Danny Miller (Aaron Dingle) – as we tried to move a crashed car, which was great.

“The episode involved a lot of night shoots out on location and our trailers were next to each other, so the casts of the two shows were always having a cup of tea and a chat, which was fun. It’s very exciting; it was a great privilege to be a part of it.”