Alan Halsall jokingly sent former professional boxer Ricky Hatton a "Happy Father's Day" message.
Alan Halsall wished Ricky Hatton a happy Father's Day in Coronation Street quip
The ‘Coronation Street’ star texted the legendary fighter to wish him all the best, after he started dating Alan's on-screen mother Claire Sweeney, who portrays Cassie Plummer in the ITV1 soap.
The 41-year-old actor told the Manchester Evening News newspaper: "Obviously Claire's got her own relationship going on in real life which I know is very public, so I don't mind saying it but I did text Ricky Hatton the other day saying, 'Happy Father's Day!' "
Alan - who has played Tyrone Dobbs in the ITV1 soap since 1998 and has 10-year-old daughter Sienna-Mae with his ex Lucy-Jo Hudson, 41 - acknowledged how hard it can be coming onto the cobbles, but he admitted former 'Brookside' star Claire has “just settled in”.
He said: "It can be a difficult thing coming into 'Coronation Street'.
"Everybody knows Claire from previous work and stuff like that but she has come and settled in and aside from me looking slightly older than her sometimes, she's just settled in.”
Last month, Ricky gushed it was “amazing” to find love with Claire, 53, after they both competed on ‘Dancing on Ice’.
The 45-year-old TV personality told Prince Casino: “I didn't go on 'Dancing on' Ice to find romance, I just went in hoping I wouldn't break my f*****g neck.
“I've known Claire for a while. I've met her at a few functions and at different events over the years. Every time we've spoken we've hit it off and got on with each other.
“We ended up both training in Altrincham, Claire's on 'Coronation Street' and she's from Liverpool, so we used to train at the same time together.
“We got on straight away while we were training for the ice skating. And then when we travelled down to London where the show actually took place we got on even better.”
The ex ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here’ star thought he had “half a chance” with Claire - who has 10-year-old son Jaxon with her ex Daniel Reilly - because they had always got on well.
Ricky said: “I always knew when I turned up and saw she was going on the ice that she was single and I knew I was single.
“I knew how we had got on so well every time we met each other. I probably thought I had half a chance.
“It's amazing [to find] someone you’ve probably known for 25 years. I've been in relationships and she's been in relationships. I've had my kids and she's had her kids. And then 25 years later we found each other. It's quite a nice story.”
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