Will Mellor, 50, has recounted the bizarre moment a furious soap fan slapped him across the face because she could not separate him from the character he played on television. The actor opened up about the shocking encounter while appearing on the Lewis Nicholls Show podcast, explaining that the incident happened when he was simply walking to the pub to meet his friends.
Mellor had only appeared in Brookside for four episodes back in 1992, playing Paul Howard, but the character's actions left a lasting impression on some viewers. Paul got Leanne Powell, played by Vickie Gates, pregnant before abandoning her, ultimately leaving her to have an abortion. The storyline clearly got some viewers worked up, but one fan took her reaction much further than most.
The Slap Heard Round the Pub
Recalling the incident, Mellor explained that he was walking through a cut-through from his estate towards the pub when he spotted an older woman walking in his direction. He did not think anything of it until she suddenly slapped him across the face. 'I went, "What are you doing?"' Mellor recalled.
According to the actor, the woman then launched into a furious rant about what his character had done. 'She went, "You left that girl pregnant, you've left her, you're a disgrace to your family, you should be ashamed of yourself."' Mellor was understandably stunned by the encounter, particularly because the woman appeared to genuinely believe he was responsible for what had happened to Leanne.
'I went, "It's not real you f*****g idiot", I was fuming,' he said. The slap had apparently been hard enough to leave his ear ringing. Mellor eventually made it to the pub, where his friends immediately noticed something was wrong. 'I got to the pub and they went, "What's happened to you?" and I go, "This woman's just hit me."'
Soap Fame and Its Downside
It was a memorable introduction to the downside of soap fame for the actor, who said the experience made him realise just how seriously some viewers take what they see on screen. 'People believe it,' he explained. 'That was my first realisation that people believe what they watch on television; they believe these characters.'
Thankfully, the incident did not put Mellor off acting, and his soap career went on to become much bigger than those four episodes of Brookside. Three years after his brief appearance in the Channel 4 soap, he joined Hollyoaks as James 'Jambo' Bolton. Mellor played the much-loved character for 85 episodes before going on to appear in shows including Casualty and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.
He eventually returned to soapland in a big way when he joined Coronation Street in 2021 as dangerous villain Harvey Gaskell. Harvey was responsible for a major drugs storyline and became one of the cobbles' more memorable hardmen, with Mellor appearing in 53 episodes.
Beyond Soaps: Dramatic Roles
Away from soaps, Mellor has also taken on a number of dramatic roles, including playing real-life former subpostmaster Lee Castleton in ITV's acclaimed 2024 drama Mr Bates vs. The Post Office. The four-part series dramatised the devastating Post Office scandal and saw Mellor take on a very different kind of role from his soap villains.
Looking back, the Brookside incident remains one of those bizarre moments that perfectly demonstrates just how convincing soap actors can be. Mellor may have only been playing Paul Howard, but for one particularly angry viewer, the line between character and actor had apparently disappeared completely. And being slapped on the way to the pub was certainly one way for the young actor to find that out.
