Corrie’s Alan Halsall speaks out following split from age-gap girlfriend… & why he’s not dating after ‘cursed’ romances

JUST a few months ago, he was down in the dumps when his relationship with stunning girlfriend Ellie Dolan came to a mutual end. But Coronation Street veteran Alan Halsall, 43, reveals he has bounced back and put romance behind him to concentrate on the most important girl in his life. Alan Halsall is single after splitting from Ellie Dolan Credit: Instagram/elliedolanx Alan is focused on being the best dad to daughter Sienna Credit: Instagram Now he is focussed on being the best dad he can for his daughter Sienna, 12. The Tyrone Dobbs actor and HR coordinator Ellie – who at 26 is 16 years younger than him – called time on their year-long relationship in May after struggling with their age-gap and realising they wanted different things. They met at the Marriott Worsley Park Country Club, where Ellie works and Alan is a member, and looked destined to last from their smitten social media posts before their shock split after a year. It led Alan’s friends to joke his love life is “cursed” and they voiced concern for him when he didn’t appear to be himself immediately afterwards. Alan has played Tyrone Dobbs on Corrie for 28 years Credit: Rex He was previously in a relationship with co-star Tisha Merry Credit: Splash The Corrie star unfollowed Ellie on Instagram and removed her pictures from his grid, showing how much his heart was hurting. To make matters more difficult, Alan’s former fiancée and Sienna’s mum Lucy-Jo Hudson, 42, announced her engagement to long-time boyfriend Lewis Devine around the same time. Though the exes have a civil relationship, seeing Lucy-Jo’s love life flourish in social media posts was tough, according to insiders. But a few months on, Alan is smiling again and isn’t in a rush to look for love. But he is busying himself with his passion for sport as well as enjoying time with Sienna. When asked by The Sun if he is dating and being inundated with requests from smitten fans, Alan confirmed he was single. He said: “Obviously I’m a dad first and foremost, and just enjoy spending some quality time with my daughter, really.” It echoes what an insider told us months earlier. A pal said: “He’s not ready to move on yet, and perhaps that’s a good thing as sometimes he has a tendency to move on too quickly. “We all just want him to be OK as he is a great guy.” Now in his 28th year on Corrie, you’d be forgiven for thinking the lines might be blurred when it comes to where Alan ends and Tyrone begins. The Weatherfield car mechanic, who is married to Fiz and also had on/off romances with the likes of Maria Connor and Romanian lover Alina Pop, has had to re-learn how to walk after a hit and run, and dealt with a recent reunion with his biological father. The actor admits to drawing on real-life experience for certain storylines, though says there’s plenty that Tyrone does that his real self wouldn’t. Alan pictured with his on-screen wife Fiz, played by Jennie McAlpine Credit: ITV Alan has been taking Sienna fishing with his dad for some quality bonding time Credit: Splash “What you have to do as an actor is try and draw on some form of experience,” he says. “Now, of course, Tyrone’s experienced many things that I haven’t in my life, but you still have to kind of draw on some form of emotion to play, certainly the darker of the stories and how you’re getting upset and things like that. “There’s a lot of me in Tyrone, but also, when I watch Coronation Street, there’s a lot of things that Tyrone does that I wouldn’t do in my life.” Alan is well used to the demands of soapland and ITV’s five episodes a week schedule. The doting dad relishes family time on weekends, whether that’s taking Sienna out or catching up with his keen fisherman father. Sienna was born from Alan’s relationship with Lucy-Jo Hudson Credit: Getty Fishing enthusiast Alan, who is backing an Environment Agency campaign, poses with a big catch Credit: Supplied “I do work Monday to Fridays. That’s our filming schedule. So we do get the weekends off, but I’m a dad of a 12-year-old girl. So some weekends are tied up going to play centres and cinemas,” says Alan. “And that’s just how life works. But the older she’s getting and the more that she wants to be doing those things, it will give me time for things like fishing, golf, a bit more padel, all those types of things.” The long-serving actor reportedly earns £100,000-a-year for his role as Tyrone, not a bad return for a job that was only meant to last six months when he was a fresh-faced 16-year-old. He admits he has to sometimes “pinch himself” that he’s made it to nearly three decades on the country’s longest running TV drama. The milestone was also reached by his iconic soap mentor Bill Tarmey, who played Tyrone’s surrogate father Jack Duckworth. Bill was so desperate to make it to the 30-year mark it drove him to stick with the soap even after the departure of his on-screen wife Vera, played by Liz Dawn. “I know, certainly for Bill as well, it was a massive thing for him that he wanted to get to 30 years,” says Alan. “And actually Liz left and Bill stayed because he was so desperate to get to 30 years. And I think it’s a great milestone for me personally. “But for the show, they’ve had several people that [made the 30-year mark]. Bill Roache is still there 60 odd years later. So it’s not such a big thing, I suppose, for them. So unless they’ve got any plans, I don’t know. “For me, I think I’ll just have a proud moment with my family.” He’s certainly given no thought to life after Tyrone, and even a successful stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here in 2024 didn’t plant any seeds for a departure. “I’d not like to think what life would be like without him, to be honest,” he says. “Because I’m just one of those lucky people in life where I love my job, like genuinely love my job, so every day when I’m going to work, I’m thankful for it, I’m grateful, and I enjoy doing what I do. “You know, plenty of my friends are going to work not enjoying their jobs, so it’s not something that I take for granted. “And as I say, I love it. I always have. And so long as they’ll have me, I always will.” Despite his fame and headline-making relationships with co-stars Lucy-Jo and Tisha Merry, Alan has largely shunned the celeb circuit. Instead, he’s focused on his acting in the week and being a typical footie-loving bloke who enjoys watching his beloved Manchester United on the weekend. “I think being a celebrity, if you like, is like a by-product of the job that I love. So I didn’t set out to be a celebrity,” insists Alan. “I set out to be an actor, and that’s what I feel like I am, and people know and love that.” Alan also enjoys a spot of fishing, having whiled away hours with his dad and older brother on holidays in the Lake District and Cornwall as a child. He’s now backing the Environment Agency’s Summer Fishing Licence campaign which is encouraging people to pick up a rod and either renew or sign up for a licence. Practicing what he’s preaching, Alan has taken Sienna out to lakes with his dad to experience the thrill of the sport and enjoy hours of screen-free fun. He says: “Sienna’s first fish she ever caught was like a four or five pound carp. You know, so it was quite impressive. “She was just made up trying to have all the pictures and stuff like that. And then also what was brilliant about it is I had my nephew with me as well. And it was like, ‘Well, I’ve caught one, how many have you caught?’ And it became straight away that little competition you could see there. “And they just enjoyed it. But also, it was a fantastic time that grandad could kind of be a part of that.” It’s that multi-generational appeal that makes fishing such a special pastime in Alan’s eyes. “I think that’s the lovely part as well about the fishing community is that they’re all very giving, wanting to impart knowledge,” he says. “Very recently, my dad’s given a load of all of his stuff to my brother’s, brother-in-law, for him and his son, and it’s very much that kind of community. “That kind of knowledge that’s imparted, I think that is part of what people love to do. I know my dad loved to do it with me, and I watched him do it with Sienna. “Try it, because if nothing else, you’re outside, you’re with close people, generally family or friends, you’ve got time to talk, you’ve got no phones, you can just enjoy a little bit of quality time. “Listen, we might not always get the quality weather in the UK, but that is also part of the fun, getting under your umbrella and having your sandwich. It is one of those fantastic sports, it’s very mindful, very peaceful, very enjoyable, but also very sociable. Alan is supporting the Environment Agency’s Summer Fishing Licence campaign, which aims to highlight the wellbeing benefits of fishing and the importance of having a valid licence. To get yours now visit, Buy a rod fishing licence: When you need a licence – GOV.UK