HE is best known for playing Corrie villain Jez Quigley, but these days Lee Boardman looks very different.
The 49-year-old is now a silver fox and has a big bushy beard – 22 years after playing the iconic role.
Lee made his first appearance on the soap in 1997 and was a gangster, drug dealer and murderer.
Viewers will remember he killed Tony Horrocks (Lee Warburton) and Des Barnes (Philip Middlemiss).
He also got Leanna Battersby (Jane Danson) hooked on drugs.
Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) testified against him in court for Tony and Des’s murders – but he somehow is found not guilty.
To get revenge he has Steve beaten up and left for dead.
Steve’s dad Jim McDonald (Charles Lawson) takes matters into his own hands and attacks Jez, who later dies in hospital from the injuries.
Since then Lee has had countless TV roles – appearing in Trollied, Death in Paradise and Rome.
Speaking about his exit from Corrie, Lee previously said: “He’s not the kind of character who could stay on the Street. He’s too bad. I discussed Jez with the producer and asked if she’d consider killing me off. I told her to go to town on my exit.”
He continued: “I always thought of Coronation Street as a shop window and never thought I’d be the kind of character who would stay around.
“I didn’t want to get stereotyped. Also, I was worried that the character would get watered-down. I’ve seen it happen in other soaps – these guys come in and they are really evil but after a while there’s nowhere for their character to go.
“People like Jez do exist and they never chill out or change, and I didn’t want him to change on screen. I’ve worked so hard on him that the last thing I wanted was for him to be toned-down and end up lodging at Emily Bishop’s.
“As an actor you can never get too comfortable. If you want a regular job you don’t become an actor, and in Corrie it’s easy to turn it into a regular job and just keep taking the money. But I’ve got a low boredom threshold and I constantly need to push myself. With Jez, I’ve created a monster but I’ve done as much as I can with him. It’s time to move on.”
