Bruce Jones has slammed 'Coronation Street' for going "too far" with its dark storylines.
Bruce Jones
The 64-year-old actor starred as Les Battersby in the ITV soap until he was cut from the cast in 2007, but he has admitted he's not too upset about not being part of the programme now as he believes it's "too violent" and he can't bear to watch anymore.
Speaking to the Sun Online, Bruce said: "The shootings and the stabbings went too far.
"The violence when I was there wasn't as bad as that. I just don't know why it's gone that way. I can't watch it anymore because it's too violent. It's terrible. People said to me I'm not watching anymore. They say to me 'did you watch that s**t last night?' They call it s**t and I went no, I watched some of it and turned it off. It's not good complaining to me, I can't do anything."
The show has featured a number of serial killers and explosive storylines and while Bruce acknowledges that there has always been drama, it's nothing to what it is like now.
He said: "That was violent but it wasn't violent like the violence is in it now.
"I think 'Coronation Street' have set out to do what they're doing, they've just gone with the way the world is which 'Coronation Street' nearly always has done.
"But just because the world's gone violent, doesn't mean the feel-good TV show has to go violent. 'Coronation Street's never been violent, it's always had the comedy elements running through it - well that's not there now. I said to my wife the other day I don't know why people are pulling me and asking me 'what's happening to 'Coronation Street'?'
"I don't know what's happening to 'Coronation Street' - I wish I did."
Bruce did suggest that it may be because the soap now airs six-days a week and revealed people are preferring to watch other shows like 'Emmerdale'.
He said: "It's gone to six episodes again, it went back down to five at one point and now it's gone back to six again and I think that's to cover everything they're doing especially with all of this violence that's going on. People really rant, I'm not joking you, they are mad. They're really mad. People come up to me in the street - 'we're not watching that s**t, we'd rather watch 'Emmerdale'. It's really sad that it's got to where it's got to now at this moment at time, I don't understand it.
"My heart goes out to it, I love 'Coronation Street', I love it more than anything in the world but I'm glad I'm not in it now with all the violence in it - I'd probably get killed."
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