Actor Bruce Jones, who starred as Les Battersby in Coronation Street has had a challenging life away from the cameras including battling an alcohol addiction and losing his home but he’s fought to get back on top, quite literally

Former Coronation Street star Bruce Jones was once reportedly left with just £14 to his name but since turning his life around is in better shape these days than he has been for years – he’s even taken up wrestling.

Actor Bruce Jones starred as the outspoken but likeable rogue and Status Quo superfan Les Battersby in Coronation Street for 10 years. The character was married to wife Janice and they shared daughter Leanne and stepdaughter Toyah. After Janice grew tired of his chaotic ways, she left him for his friend Dennis Stringer and Les moved on with barmaid Cilla Brown, her son Chesney and his huge pet pooch, Schmeichel the Great Dane.

It was unthinkable that the soap fans’ favourite would ever leave Weatherfield but unfortunately in March 2007, the actor was suspended from the ITV show after reportedly getting drunk with an undercover journalist – letting slip future storylines on the show and making inappropriate comments. Bruce’s exit from Corrie was confirmed in May, when it was revealed he would be suspended from the show until his contract expired in September that year.

The Battersby family in 1998 (Image: Granada Television)

Les never received an on-screen exit storyline but his stepson Chesney confirmed his former father figure was alive and well, living in Dublin and working as a roadie with an Irish tribute band. After his dismissal from Corrie, Bruce went on to perform stand up comedy sets in Benidorm, before going on to enjoy stints on reality TV shows like Celebrity Wife Swap, alongside singer Sinitta, in 2008.

It was an appearance on the BBC One show Famous, Rich and Homeless in 2009 that would prove to be a sad prediction of the future for him. In the show, which saw four celebrities swap fame for life on the streets, Bruce was the most affected by the experience and considered quitting several times.

He hit the booze as a way of coping with his feelings after leaving Corrie. In the same year he made what he calls “the biggest mistake of my life”. He was in a car with his then wife while he was drunk and he grabbed the steering wheel. He told the Guardian: “I was so down, I tried to kill us both,” he says. “I thought: ‘If I’m going to die, you’re coming with me.’ I had tears streaming down my face and I just wanted to go.”

He was arrested, charged and given a suspended prison sentence. “I lost everything,” he added. Bruce and his wife separated and his life spiralled out of control. He became bankrupt after blowing his £1,000,000 fortune and would later end up on benefits. In May 2010, a few months on from it being reported Bruce was living alone in a caravan in North Wales, it was alleged the former soap star had been made homeless after failing to keep up with payments on his £500,000 Cheshire house. It was said he was left with just £14 to his name.

In 2013, Bruce discussed his struggles with alcohol and his poor mental health – revealing his trouble began during his time on the ITV soap. “There were times I didn’t want to be in the dressing room, I just wanted to go home. I was suffering depression but didn’t realise I was ill,” he told the Mirror previously.

“It’s a terrible disease. You don’t know you’ve got it, but it’s got you. Basically I was schizophrenic, my only defence was that I was an actor. I could pretend to be somebody else. I could put a set of clothes on and take them off. There’s no way out of it… unfortunately I decided I would drink my depression away.”

Things began looking up for Bruce in the years that followed, with an appearance on Celebrity Big Brother landing him £15,000 and going on to discuss his experience with alcoholism and debt in Channel 5’s Celebs on Benefits: Fame to Claim. One positive Bruce did manage to take from his time working on Coronation Street was his close relationship with Vicky Entwistle, who played his first on-screen wife Janice. During an appearance on Loose Women in 2020, the former co-stars discussed their close bond, with Bruce admitting Vicky helped him battle through some of the more turbulent moments of his life.

In 2021 Bruce was cast in the film Cold Sun, where he appeared alongside Hollywood actress Tara Reid. In the espionage thriller, the American Pie actress plays an MI6 agent, while Bruce took on the role of Colin Rye. In 2023 he returned to star for a second time in The Full Monty and this year he embarked on a totally new career in professional wrestling – at the age of 71. Speaking about his new venture, Bruce said his wrestling role was originally a Les Battersby cameo to promote another match, but it got out of hand. “So, they were like: ‘You don’t mind getting knocked about in the ring a bit, do you?'” he told The Guardian .

He made his debut in February 2024 and in May appeared in the ring again as part of the Les Battersby World Order. The Coronation Street fight saw him go up against Steven Arnold, who played butcher Ashley Peacock in the soap. The crowd reportedly loved seeing Bruce in the ring as he talked to the audience on a microphone.