Rochelle Humes, the host of This Morning, was surprised to discover that she had worked with the famous father of Coronation Street star Luca Toolan.
Luca, who plays the bully Mason in a powerful storyline about bullying on the ITV soap, is the son of well-known radio DJ Mike Toolan. Mike is known for his work on The Hits Radio alongside former Emmerdale and Hollyoaks star Gemma Atkinson.
When asked by host Andi Peters what his dad thought of his acting debut on Coronation Street, Luca said: “He loves it,” Rochelle then realised she knew Luca’s father and exclaimed: “I know your dad! Sorry, I didn’t know it was that Mike!”
She explained: “When we were in [The Saturdays] we used to do radio tours and we always used to see your dad. Sorry, that took me by surprise,” Luca finished by saying: “[My dad] loves it, he’s my number one fan.”
Luca shared that it’s tough to watch his appearances on Coronation Street with his family due to the nasty character he plays. He revealed: “I can watch myself but I don’t like to, not for reasons you’d expect like the self conscious actor.
“It’s because I usually watch it with my family or my grandma and they’re looking at me like, ‘Who is this? Am I sitting next to an animal? Because it is me doing these horrible things on the screen.”
His father, well-known in the industry, leveraged his radio show to express joy when Luca bagged the role in the soap. He shared with his audience: Luca “has been unveiled as the new baddie (Mason) on Coronation Street. Absolute dream come true for him. Liam McCheyne and all the amazing Corrie cast and crew have made him feel so at home.”
Previously, the actor opened up about his involvement in the TV series. He expressed: “It really is amazing. I feel very lucky because I’ve had Liam with me and he’s been like an older brother to me, even though he’s actually younger than me.”
“He’s such a nice dude and he’s really walked me through everything, showed me where the teas are and the cups and what have you, and he’s made it a lot easier. If I was going in on a storyline by myself, I feel like it’d be a lot more daunting, but everybody’s so nice.”
The actor shared: “I didn’t know what to expect, but everybody’s genuinely lovely.” He also admitted he wouldn’t choose to be friends with his character Mason in real life, saying: “No! He’s a lunatic. I would stay away from people like Mason.”
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV1.