Comedian and actor Jason Manford has hit out at a story claiming he ‘quit’ his role as head teacher Steve Savage in Waterloo Road after making his exit after one series
Jason Manford has hit out at rumours that he ‘quit’ his role as Steve Savage in Waterloo Road after only one series. A news report shared a tweet on X claiming the star ‘quit’ the show, but the comedian was quick to clarify the real reason he departed with a hilarious tweet.
Slamming the media reports, the 8 Out of 10 Cats star said: “I mean, I didn’t ‘quit’ but really tough to carry as headteacher once you’ve chucked a pupil’s dead body in the canal! It doesn’t look good on the old Ofsted report! @WaterlooRoad,” along with a laughing face emoji.
The tweet gained several hundred likes and fans of the show rushed to the comment section to share their love for his character.
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“Wasn’t it just a one series contract? Mind you I’ll miss seeing you in a suit,” one fan comment and another added: “Awww you were brilliant as Steve Savage.”
One fan posted: “Shame you can’t have some prison visits on it. One of my favourite headmasters,” and another quipped: “I think you’d be fine as long as all paperwork was filed correctly.”
The Salford-born comedian previously revealed he asked for his storyline to be changed on the show after his daughters said it was ‘weird’. His character had a romantic interest in canteen worker Nicky Walter (played by Kym Marsh).
Speaking on Good Morning Britain in November, he said: “It’s very of its time I suppose so one of the storylines they mentioned was that my teacher, he’s a widower, and he was going to have this romance with this teacher.
“They mentioned the teacher who it was, and I mentioned it to my girls, who loved the show, and they were like, ‘You can’t do that, you weirdo, she’s about 24 and you’re 43, that’s weird’.
“I didn’t know the character, so I rang the producer and I said, look, I’d love to be in it, what a privilege to be the headteacher, but I said, I can’t have this storyline, it’s just weird, it’s just not right in today’s society’, and certainly my daughters were not happy with it.”
He added: “So, I said, is there another more age-appropriate member of staff who maybe he could have this romance with? They said, What about Kym Marsh? And I said, I’ll see you Monday.”
In Jason’s final episode as the headteacher, he was placed in prison for perverting the course of justice.
The next series will see his character replaced by new headteacher, Dame Stella Drake, played by Lindsey Coulson.
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