Corrie viewers will get to see the brand new Victoria Street very soon.
But a Coronation Street April Fool’s prank went badly wrong on Sunday, as fans were convinced the brand new set was a fake after it featured in a mockup trailer starring the soap’s cast.
Fans of the ITV soap rushed to Twitter over the Easter weekend slamming the sitcom-style trailer which featured some of Corrie’s biggest stars frolicking around the Victoria Street set.
Whoops! A Coronation Street April’s Fool’s Day prank went badly wrong on Sunday, after fans were convinced that the Victoria Street set was a fake
In the trailer, fans got their first look at some of the new shops set to feature on Victoria Street, with the stars putting on a hilarious display alluding to the style of a sitcom.
Daniel Brocklebank (Billy Mayhew), Beverley Callard (Liz McDonald), Shona Ramsey (Julia Goulding), Colson Smith (Craig Tinker) and Bhavna Limbachia (Rana Nazir) appeared in the trailer, strutting around the set which includes a police station, tattoo parlour and a tram station.
Posting the video on social media, ITV captioned the post: ‘@ITV is excited to announce a brand new sitcom based in Weatherfield, featuring well-known faces from the world of Coronation Street.’
Hilarious: The ITV soap tweeted a mock trailer for the ‘sitcom’ show featuring some of Corrie’s star’s getting into hijinks on the new set
Not real: Fans were convinced that the entire set was built as part of the prank, when in reality only the trailer was a joke
Naughty: Corrie legend Beverley Callard led the slew of stars featuring in the trailer, standing outside the set’s tattoo parlour
Unfortunately the ‘spin-off’ was all an April Fool’s Day prank, as the soap confirmed later that day with another tweet, writing: ‘April Fools! Victoria Street isn’t real… but we bet you wish it was!’
Many fans then assumed that the entire set was part of the joke, rushing to social media to comment on why the soap would spend so much on a prank.
Taking to Instagram, one viewer asked: ‘So you built a full set just to fool people.’
Another confused fan added: ‘How can it not be real tho why go to all the trouble building the buildings and taking the cobbles from the old set and building a bench for the Manchester bombing victims I don’t get it’.
However others saw the funny side, disappointed that the Victoria Street sitcom would not actually come to fruition.
Joke’s on you! Later that day the soap tweeted again telling fans the trailer was an April Fool’s prank
Confusion: Many fans then assumed that the entire set was part of the joke, rushing to social media to comment on why the soap would spend so much on a prank
Carnage: Stars of the soap including Bhavna Limbachia strutted around the new set in the sitcom trailer
New faces: The Victoria Street set will feature a Costa Coffee and Co-Op, as part of new product placement deals with the brands
One fan tweeted: ‘It makes me laugh how people think its the Victoria Street set that was the April Fool rather than the proposed sitcom called Victoria Street.’
Another added: ‘And there you had me thinking it was the end of Coronation Street! You got me there! LOL!’
A third wrote: ‘Shut up I got so excited about this I nearly cried when I realised what day it was.’
Awkward! Some fans were left red-faced after thinking the entire set was a fake, while others were disappointed to hear the sitcom wouldn’t come to fruition
Fans will get to see the brand new Victoria Street set in action very soon, featuring even more additions that will have never been seen on screen before, including a Costa Coffee and Co-Op as part of a product placement deal with the brands.
Set to be seen on-screen for the first time on Friday 20th April, the set also provides more options for filming outside of the classic street, reducing the need for filming on location.
The set also features tributes to the 22 victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in May of last year, including Corrie superfan Martyn Hett.
Body of the law: Colson Smith (who plays Craig Tinker) made an appearance as he headed out of the police station
Coming soon: Fans will get to see the Victoria Street in real action on Corrie from Friday 20 April