ITV Coronation Street viewers 'disappointed' as Steve McDonald's 'replaced'

Coronation Street fans were left feeling a bit letdown as it seemed like the character Steve McDonald had been "replaced".

The veteran character Steve, played by Simon Gregson since 1989, is a favourite among many viewers of the popular show.

In recent storylines, his wife Tracy Barlow (played by Kate Ford) has been unfaithful with his football hero Tommy Orpington (Matt Milburn).

But after Tommy leaves for Spain and Tracy admits missing the company of a man, she attempts to reconcile with Steve who still loves her.

Despite this, some fans weren't too thrilled with these developments. Viewers took to X, previously known as Twitter, to voice their thoughts.

One user named Lil commented: "Steve is a mug and showing his daughter it's OK to let people walk all over you."

Meanwhile, Owen noted: "I'm really starting to dislike Steve. What have they done to him?"

Abi asked: "Why have they replaced funny and lovely Steve with a wet doormat? " Even @heavenrise chimed in saying: "God Steve's pathetic. They've massacred his character."

The 49-year-old actor told Yahoo! News he hopes to see his character fall in love again.

"I think it would be great if we see Steve having to go down the route of speed dating, online dating," Simon shared.

However, he admitted he'd rather see the character remain single "for a while".

He expanded: "Steve could have a full on mid life crisis, maybe we could see him losing weight, changing his appearance, going to the gym."

The actor continued: "It could be a lot of fun and also a great excuse for me to make some changes in real life!"

Addressing who Steve would be suited to romantically, the actor shared: "I think anyone will do. At this point in Steve's life he'd be lucky to have anybody."

Coronation Street airs on ITV on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm.