Strictly's Shayne Ward drew upon his own personal, family tragedy when he played the final heartbreaking scenes as Aiden Connor in Coronation Street . Shayne Ward is competing in this year's Strictly Come Dancing - a challenge he has previously said he's "buzzing" about. The star is no stranger to performing on stage and first rose to fame when he won the second series of the X Factor in 2005.
His debut single That's My Goal reached number one in the UK charts in the same year. Following his career in pop, Shayne, 39, turned to acting and in 2015 he landed a role as Aiden Connor, factory boss of underwear company Underworld. Aiden was the half brother of the business’ owner Carla Connor and he was brought in to help her run it.
Shayne, who won National Television and Inside Soap Awards for the part, played Aiden for three years until the character was involved in a devastating storyline that saw him take his own life. To help him act out the harrowing scenes leading up to Aiden’s death, Shayne carried out research with the Samaritans and CALM (The Campaign Against Living Miserably), but he also drew upon his own personal experience. Sadly members of his own family had tried taking their own life, with one tragically succeeding.
The actor was present at a media screening of Aiden’s final scenes and according to the MEN , he wept alongside producer Kate Oates as he watched the heartbreaking storyline played back for the first time. Afterwards he spoke to the audience abou.