Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd has defended the soap for recasting the character of Todd Grimshaw.

Earlier this week, Welsh actor Gareth Pierce was revealed to be taking over the role of Todd, three years after Bruno Langley was sacked for admitting sexual misconduct.

The casting drew some criticism from Corrie fans on social media as Pierce does not resemble his predecessor, but Shepherd, who plays David Platt, says that acting ability should always be the priority.

Replying to one fan on Instagram questioning why the show had not chosen a Langley lookalike, he wrote: "in my experience, that never works, you end up casting someone with same colour hair/eyes same teeth etc over acting capability, and the best actor/actress for the role misses out."

Pierce's debut as Todd will be aired in the coming months.