Jimmi Harkishin has celebrated his 25th anniversary on the Cobbles this year
Dev Alahan is one of Coronation Street’s most famous characters. The Weatherfield favourite has been played by Jimmi Harkishin for 25 years as he joined the cast in 1999.
Since his arrival on the Cobbles, Dev has been at the centre of some of the show’s most dramatic storylines. He continues to play a pivotal role in the show and was at the centre of last year’s explosive storyline when Stephanie Davis joined the cast as Courtney Vance.
Dev has endured a difficult period of late in Weatherfield as he has split from Bernie Winter. Dev was seen drowning his sorrows in Friday’s episode as he struggles to cope after the split and he also witnessed a tense scene between Mason Radcliffe and the character he previously bullied, Liam Connor.
Although Dev’s complicated life on screen looks set to continue, his life away from the Cobbles is fortunately more settled. He has two children with ex-partner Susan Beaton, who he had been with since 1991, but it is understood they are no longer together.
The actor was born in Paris with the name Rajan Harkishindas to an Indian father and Italian mother. His acting career got underway in 1986 and he has appeared in the BBC soap Casualty, as well as Jonathan Creek and the film East is East.
Dev arrived on Weatherfield in 1999 and Jimmi revealed on an episode of Catchphrase that there was a surprise change made to the character when he landed the role. He said: “When I got the breakdown of the character, it said he was born and brought up in Birmingham.”
Jimmi showcased his Brummie accent before he revealed why show bosses eventually changed the character’s origins. He said: “I can do it but it’s not sexy.” Jimmi has been a near constant on the Cobbles ever since, aside from two well-publicised breaks.
Back in 2004, Jimmi temporarily exited the cobbles when he was granted indefinite leave to sort out “problems” in his private life. A spokesperson for Granada said: “Both Granada and Jimmi recognise he has some problems that he needs to sort out.
“He will be taking a break from the show while he seeks help to deal with these issues. This is with the full support of the Company, Coronation Street and his colleagues.”
Jimmi had already filmed five weeks’ worth of scenes in advance and storylines were re-written to explain his absence. The soap actor was forced to take another break in April 2014 as he was understood to be exhausted from the busy filming schedule.
Show officials confirmed the actor was planning to take the time off after making a formal request with producers, but insisted he would definitely return. A Corrie spokesperson said: “It was agreed way in advance, and other actors who have been on the show a long time have done the same thing from time to time and taken a sabbatical.”
Jimmi has been a mainstay in the show ever since and his importance to Corrie is showing no signs of slowing down and he has previously spoken about why he has no plans of leaving the soap. He told Mirror Online: “I just love it. I’m an actor and I get to act every week.
“Coronation Street is just this brilliant, brilliant programme, to work for. It feels like home and I never forget how fortunate I am to do something I love. I think to myself, ‘Is there anything I’d really like to go out there and do more than I like doing Corrie?’ The answer to that is, ‘No’. If there was, I’d do it.”
