ITV Coronation Street icon unrecognisable in rare TV reunion with Denise Welch 26 years on

A Coronation Street actor looked worlds away from his soap days as he made a rare TV appearance.

Philip Middlemiss, 60, made a comeback to screens after being known for his role as love rat Des Barnes on the ITV soap. He played the role from 1990 to 1998 and now looks very different from his time on the cobbles. The actor returned to the small screen on Monday as he joined the Loose Women panel.

He looked different from his soap days as he now sports short white hair and wore a smart black jacket over a white T-shirt. Des left Corrie in dramatic scenes as he suffered a heart attacked and died in wife Natalie's arms. Philip was reunited with on-screen wife Denise Welch during the ITV panel show.

His most memorable storyline from his time on the soap included Des sabotaging his ex girlfriend Raquel's engagement party. Des forced her to admit she didn't really love Curly Watts ahead of their wedding. Philip was the one who chose to step away from the soap, having asked Coronation Street bosses to kill off his character.

The actor first appeared on screens back in 1986 on Ladies In Charge as well as making appearances in The Bill and Waterfront Beat. After Coronation Street, Philip played David Buckley in ITV drama Where The Heart Is, having starred in the show from 2000 to 2006. He has since stepped back from acting, having last appeared on screens back in 2014 on Doctors.

In 2012, Philip was declared bankrupt after he poured his life-savings in to directing a film in Africa that was derailed by the 2008 financial crisis. He told the Manchester Evening News : "It was partly-funded by myself but I didn’t have the money to fund the rest of the film. Filming came to a grinding halt. It was nearly three-quarters of the way along the line. It has been a difficult time. Three-and-a-half years is a long time to fund myself without any income. I have had to get money from family and friends.”

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He was caught up in the costliest global bribery scandal of all time, accused of involvement in corruption at the highest level of government in Ghana. Speaking on Good Morning Britain in 2021, Philip revealed the allegations turned his life upside down, saw him lose his house and suffer from panic attacks and PTSD.

"I ended up losing the house, the car," he said. "It's a very stressful situation." He has denied any wrongdoing and faced possible prosecution by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office in relation to allegations of bribery and corruption and the £50million sale of three C-295 military planes by global aerospace giant Airbus to the Ghanaian government.

In 2019 Airbus agreed to pay a record $4billion fine to the UK, France and US after a four-year investigation in more than 12 countries found the firm bribed public officials and hid the payments in a web of worldwide corruption. A year later in July 2020, Interpol had issued a red notice on him, which the Ghana Government had sent out on all media platforms.

"When I saw the red notice had been issued [...] my first thought was, 'Oh my god'," he said. "It's full of the world's worst people. It said he might be travelling under the alias of 'Des Barnes'... I'm a bit stupid but I would think of a better one than that!" He also revealed that two of his former co-stars had continued to support him through such a difficult time.

"Charlie Lawson (Jim McDonald) has been a great friend, Simon Gregson (Steve McDonald)," he said. "You find out who your real friends are." Speaking to The Mirror, Phil opened up about the panic attacks he had been suffering from. He added: "My heart started missing a few beats, leading to regular palpitations. And many sleepless nights. Protecting my family is paramount, I’m fortunate to have a great support network and very loyal friends."

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