Coronation Street has shared a huge update on Steven McDonald’s twin brother Andy, almost 20 years since his last appearance.

Andy (Nicholas Cochrane) made his debut on the soap way back in 1989, rocking up to Weatherfield with mum Liz (Beverley Callard), dad Jim (Charlie Lawson) and Steve (Simon Gregson).

And it’s fair to say it didn’t take the McDonald clan long to cause some drama on the cobbles. Andy himself, played a part in several big storylines over the years.

He had disastrous romances with several residents including Amy Nelson (Louise Duprey) and Paula Maxwell (Judy Brook). He also worked at the Rovers and was caught up in Gerry Turner’s (Keith Woodason) armed siege.

However, actor Nicholas was forced to leave the soap alongside other notable characters when a new producer arrived in 1997. The storyline that saw Andy move away from the cobbles involved him taking up a teaching post in Spain.

The star has returned plenty of times over the years to make guest appearances as Andy in 2000 and 2004. He was last seen in 2009, when Andy returned for Steve’s wedding to Becky Granger (Katherine Kelly).

Following his Coronation Street exit, Nicholas continued a career on screens. He starred in the ITV police drama Heartbeat, playing golfer Barray Scripps and in 2019, he starred in Doctors as Dean Telford, a dad in debt to a local businessman.

But now, 36 years since his Corrie debut, and this week the soap issued a major update on Andy – and fans are heartbroken. During Friday’s episode (October 24) Tyrone (Alan Halsall) told his wife Fiz (Jennie McAlpine) that Steve had headed to visit his brother Andy in Spain, confirming that Andy is still living there.

Reacting to the update, fans shared their upset as one person said on a Coronation Street Facebook fan page: “Sad to hear Andy is still in Spain, be good to see him back.” Another chimed in: “Never should have got rid of him!” A third penned: “It would be interesting to see him after all these years.”

Meanwhile, in 2018, Nicholas Cochrane spoke about a possible return to Corrie and he didn’t deny there could be a chance. He said: “He [Andy] went to Spain and then he never came back.

“He was never killed off, the door was left open, they go and visit him quite frequently,” adding, “Well I’m a good excuse for when everyone needs to go on a real holiday, they send them to Spain to go see me.”