Coronation Street's Jack P Shepherd has shared a spine-chilling encounter with a rat that leapt onto his neck as he was taking out the bins. The actor, known for playing David Platt on the popular ITV soap, recounted the hair-raising incident on the Sofa Cinema Club podcast, which he co-hosts with fellow Corrie stars Colson Smith and Ben Price.
The 36 year old described how the rodent ambushed him one Sunday evening in 2020 at his Manchester home with girlfriend Hanni Treweek. "A rat attacked me. I was putting the bins out on Sunday night. I've told you before about the infestation of the rats in my area," he said. "It was night time. I had my big slippers on. I was pulling the wheelie bins out and as I'm dragging them up the street there must have been a rat in the bin."
"So the movement of me pulling the wheelie bins has disturbed him. He's gone to leap out of the bin and he's jumped on my f**king neck! Behind my neck! He sort of slithered down my body, and sort of rolled onto the floor. A great, fat, b******d rat. Massive. Slimy. He'd been in the bin!" Jack continued his tale of terror: "He jumped, hit the neck, and might have hurt himself on the back of my neck because he rolled down my body for an eternity before he landed on the floor!"
"I didn't know what it was at first, I thought someone was tapping me on the shoulder it was that big. It was terrifying!" He ended the story by saying: "He ran off through someone's garden. The bin lid was open a bit because the bin bag didn't quite go in. I took all my clothes off and had to get a shower."
Jack has been portraying David Platt on the beloved ITV soap for more than two decades, having joined the soap in 2000. His latest storyline has David under suspicion for attacking Nathan, the man who formerly groomed Bethany Platt and who she believes is behind Lauren Bolton's disappearance.
After David, Sarah and Gary talk about Nathan in the Rovers and how something should be done about him, Nathan is seen packing up at the building site where he works. A mysterious hooded figure approaches and strikes him over the head, but could it be David who struck him?
