Coronation Street fans were left stunned as they “worked out” where they’d seen new prison guard Mandy before after she was introduced on the ITV soap in tense scenes

Coronation Street viewers were left gobsmacked after discovering the identity of the actress playing prison guard Mandy in the soap.

Recently, Rob Donovan (Marc Baylis) made a surprising comeback to the cobbles, eight years after his last appearance.

Fans will remember that Rob is serving time for the murder of Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan) back in 2014. However, with his sister Carla Connor (Alison King) in need of a kidney transplant, his son Bobby (Jack Carroll) decided to intervene.

Last week, he visited Rob to reveal the situation – and although initially resistant, Rob eventually had a change of heart. In Monday’s episode (January 13), Bobby returned to the prison to convince Rob to get tested as a potential donor.

But things took a shocking turn when fellow inmate Matty (Seamus McGoff), who is in prison for stabbing and killing his own brother Mason (Luca Toolan) last week, pulled out a knife and took prison guard Mandy hostage. The situation escalated when Rob intervened, leading to Matty threatening Bobby’s life.

Coronation Street viewers were left gobsmacked after discovering the identity of the actress playing prison guard Mandy in the soap (Image: ITV)

Both Mandy and Rob tried to defuse the situation, and as tensions rose, Rob managed to pin Matty against the wall until staff could intervene, reports Lancs Live.

Viewers were on the edge of their seats with the intense prison scenes, but some eagle-eyed fans were quick to spot a familiar face portraying Mandy.

On social media platform X, it was highlighted that the actress is Rebecca Atkinson, famously known for her role as Karen Maguire in Channel 4’s hit series Shameless from 2004 to 2013.

One fan exclaimed: “It’s karen maguire from shameless! ” Another added: “I was going crazy trying to remember where i knew her from!”. A third commented: “I recognised the prison officer/guard straight away. Loved her when she played Karen in Shameless.”

Rebecca Atkinson is known for her role as Karen Maguire in Channel 4’s hit series Shameless from 2004 to 2013

Meanwhile, another viewer noted: “I’ve been staring at this since we got the spoilers and convinced it was!”. Starting on Shameless at the tender age of 19, Rebecca became a staple on the BAFTA-winning show, involved in numerous major plots including steamy affairs and managing the notorious Jockey pub.

Coronation Street is on ITV at 8pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday and available to stream from 7am on ITVX