Coronation Street bosses have reassured fans that Norris is not leaving the cobbles, following actor Malcolm Hebden’s absence.
Producer Iain MacLeod said they were “hoping” his character would rejoin the cast after it was announced a new family had bought number three from the resident.
Hebden’s character Norris Cole has been away from the soap since 2017, when the actor needed surgery following a heart attack.
MacLeod said: “Norris is not leaving the show, we just thought that given the circumstances that we find ourselves in, it made sense to put a family in number three.
“It’s certainly not the end of Norris.
“Emily I’m in talks with fairly regularly, or we are as production, with Eileen, but at the moment there’s no plans for her to return. But again, the door is certainly not closed there.
“Definitely in Norris’s case the hope on my part, and I think on his, is that we can bring him back in for good.”
Coronation Street explained The Kabin boss’s absence by sending him to join friend Emily Bishop in Peru after producers wrote her out of the soap when actress Eileen Derbyshire took an extended break.
The Bailey family – dad Edison, mum Aggie and their two sons Michael and James – are set to arrive on the street later this year.
Speaking about changing the set of number three, MacLeod said it was “weirdly emotional” to see it changed to accommodate a new family.
“There was bits of carpet coming out and going in a skip and it is an iconic set, so it wasn’t a decision we took lightly,” he said.
“It felt like they 100% would re-vamp it and put their own imprint on it so that’s what we’re doing.
“I’ll be sad to see it go.”