Corrie SPOILER: Ed Bailey’s brother Ronnie arrives in Weatherfield as Vinta Morgan joins the cast

Coronation Street will welcome a new character to the cobbles next month as Ed Bailey’s flash Ronnie makes a dramatic arrival in Weatherfield.

Actor Vinta Morgan will join the cast as Ronnie speeds into the Street in his sports car, but his reasons for moving to Salford remain a mystery.

The introduction of Ronnie will form part of a dramatic new storyline for the Baileys that will take centre stage in 2021, after the soap earned praise for tackling the topic of racism last year.

In upcoming scenes, Ronnie is thrilled to be reunited with brother Ed (played by Trevor Michael Georges.) and his nephew Michael (Ryan Russell), and the trio head to the Rovers for a drink.

But as they reminisce about times past, it’s clear Aggie (Lorna Laidlaw) is concerned for her husband, and later tells Grace she fears Ronnie could lead Ed astray.  

Her concerns get worse when Ronnie reveals he’s planning to move to the area from London, but doesn’t reveal the reason behind his relocation, and along with Michael’s baby announcement this only adds to Aggie’s stress.  

At 51, Ronnie is a single man missing his family, but has done well with some lucky business investments, and no doubt he’ll be a hit with the ladies on the Street thanks to his charming ways.  

Producer Iain MacLeod says: ‘Ronnie Bailey is a massive injection of chaos, energy and humour. He is a Jack the Lad that will tip their current cosy existence on it’s head and set many cats among many pigeons, up and down the street, much to Ed’s exasperation.

‘In comes Ronnie with a hand grenade with the pin already out and we are all wondering when he is going to drop it and as you can predict on a show like ours he will drop it when it will do maximum damage. It’s an exciting time in the Bailey household.’

Actor Vinta will play Ronnie, with previously credits including Unforgotten, Ted Lasso and Grace Under Pressure.

Of the role he said: ‘It’s so great to be joining Coronation Street. I grew up watching it, I know the characters, I’ve lived the stories and now, to play my part on the street, I can only say I’m blessed.

‘In my household it has always been a firm favourite and I’m so thrilled to be joining as this enigmatic character.’

It comes after Corrie bosses confirmed the Bailey family will take centre-stage in a dark new storyline tackling the effects of racism.

Producer Iain told Digital Spy: ‘We’re doing a slow-burn exploration of systemic racism.’

‘Obviously we touched upon that subject area with verbal racism earlier in 2020, but we’ll now be playing out a more long-form exploration of system racism, which is of the more insidious and almost subliminal form.

‘Rather than overt name-calling, it’s more the kind of things that our actors have told us they’ve experienced in their day-to-day lives – unconscious bias and systemic racism.’

Ronnie Bailey’s first Corrie scenes will air on Friday 19th February.