Jacob Roberts has made a huge impact on Coronation Street fans since making his debut earlier this year, although it hasn’t been an easy journey for the Salford born actor

Coronation Street’s Jacob Roberts, known for his role as Bernie Winter’s long-lost son Kit Green, had a humble beginning before hitting the big time on Corrie. Ever since his arrival earlier this year, Jacob has been involved in a number of hard hitting storylines. Now, he’s in the centre of a scandal with the Platts as he and Shona got intimate behind her husband David’s back. As well as Kit having troubles, Jacob has opened up on his own personal struggles before, and after joining the show.

Just three weeks before his soap debut, the 34 year old was fitting TV aerials, after leaving Hollyoaks the year before and facing a tough time finding new acting gigs. “It was a low moment,” he previously shared with the Mirror. “Eight months previously I was on TV and now I was in the freezing cold rain on top of a roof, fiddling with a TV aerial.”

“It was winter and I was outside up a ladder in the cold, instead of inside in the warm doing lines, it was a total reality check and hard to take.” he said.

Seeking to stay incognito while on the job, Jacob mentioned, “I was dreading anyone recognising me and saying: ‘Weren’t you on Hollyoaks?’ I wasn’t being pretentious, but I was there to work and I didn’t want the attention.”

But actor Jacob also has trouble now he’s on set in Weatherfield. Towering at 6ft 4in, has shared some behind-the-scenes challenges of filming in the iconic pub. “I love it, but I’m 6ft 4in so I don’t really fit in the Rovers,” he laughed. “Every time I stand at the bar they have to raise the level of the top of the bar.

In his youth, Jacob seemed destined for fame when at the age of 17 he joined the cast of stage show Borstal Boy, earning high praise in Edinburgh and New York. “It was an amazing opportunity; it was just off Broadway and we got good audiences; a lot of people wanted to see it,” he reflected. Yet, upon his return to the UK, his expected TV career did not pan out as hoped, leading him to work as a joiner.

After facing redundancy, he devoted two years to working with children with disabilities and also had stints as a labourer and TV aerial installer. It wasn’t until 27 that he landed his breakout role as heartthrob Damon Kinsella in Hollyoaks, starring on the show for six years. “It took me a long time to get my break,” he conceded, “It was 10 years. I was up for parts in Hollyoaks about five times before I finally got it.”

Opening up on how he dealt with rejection, Jacob said: “Rejection is hard to take, but I didn’t let it affect my passion to act, that was always there. I always wanted to be on TV and I never thought I wouldn’t get to do it, because I do have confidence in myself.”