Coronation Street icon Jimmi Harkishin is known as the loveable womaniser Dev Alahan on the ITV soap, and now it appears the TV stud has a secret fan in Hollywood

Coronation Street favourite Jimmi Harkishin was once recognised by Hollywood legend Henry Cavil at a Parisian café.

Loyal fans of the ITV soap will know the 59-year-old plays the role of the beloved womaniser Dev Alahan on the famous cobbles. He first joined the show back in 1999 and quickly won over the ladies on the street with his smooth charm and dashing good looks.

But viewers will be surprised to know another famous face who is a secret Corrie fan is none other than Superman himself. During Thursday’s instalment (February 29) of On The Sofa – a podcast hosted by co-stars Colson Smith, Jack P Shepherd and Ben Price – the Craig Tinker star shared Jimmi’s jaw-dropping meeting with the 40-year-old DC star.

The fiery redhead excitedly spilled his surprising tale to his co-stars, and it’s fair to say they were just as shocked as we were to hear the news. He began: “Have you ever heard Jimmi Harkishin’s Henry Cavill story?

Corrie favourite shares mortifying moment he was recognised by Henry Cavill (Image: onthesofashow/Instagram)
“So he’s in France, in Paris. He’s been on a motorbike ride, and he parks up at this cafe. He leaves his motorbike and goes inside and is sat sipping away on a coffee.

“And he said he’s looking at this guy and he can’t stop looking at him. He’s like, ‘He’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, just drop-dead gorgeous’.

“And he thinks he recognises him or thinks he knows him but doesn’t [really]. He’s like, ‘It’s Paris, it could be anyone’.” It’s at this point that The Witcher star approaches his table and says hi.

Colson continued: “And as he’s leaving the guy steps over to Jimmi’s table and Jimmi looks up from his coffee and the guy goes, ‘Hi Dev’ and Jimmi goes ‘Hi Superman’ and he just walked out.”

It was at this point that his co-stars burst into laughter as they reeled from the hilarious interaction. Jack chuckled: “Only to Dev, as if he’s gone up to him and said, ‘Hi Dev’.”

Ben chimed in with: “As if someone’s gone up to him and gone, ‘Hello Superman’. That’s his response which is brilliant isn’t it? As if we are those people, like we are the same you and I.”

The soap star was approached by Henry Cavill (Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Henry wouldn’t be the only famous face to be a secret fan of the ITV soap, after Bob Dylan confessed he also tuned into the ITV soap. In a wide-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal, the 81-year-old spoke about technology, social media and songwriting as well as his TV habits.

The singer is also partial to TV detective drama Father Brown and old Twilight Zone reruns. He said: “Two or three hours in front of the tube is a lot of binge-watching for me. Too much time to be involved with the screen. Or maybe I’m too old for it.

“I’ve binge-watched Coronation Street, Father Brown, and early Twilight Zones. I know they’re old-fashioned shows, but they make me feel at home.” Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8pm on ITV1 or catch up on ITVX.