CORONATION Street’s Andy Whyment has spent an impressive 20 years on the soap as Kirk Sutherland.
The 39-year-old actor, who has played the delivery driver for Underworld since 200, took to Instagram last night to celebrate the amazing milestone in his life.
Alongside a picture of him standing on the famous set of the popular ITV soap, Andy explained about how much he’s enjoyed the past two decades playing the much-loved character.
He told his 402k followers: “It’s been 20 years to the day since my first ever episode as Kirk on @coronationstreet it’s been an absolute honour to be a part of this incredible show that I’ve been a fan of from being a kid for so many years, I love playing Kirk and hope to do so for many more years #corriefamily 
”
Many of his co-stars flocked to the comment section to show their appreciation of his amazing presence during filming.
Alan Halsall, who plays Tyrone Dobs on the show, wrote: “Here’s 
to 20 more bro 
”
Toyah Battersby actress Georgia Taylor commented: “Congratulations love! You’re a credit to the show xxx”
Ryan Thomas, who played Jason Grimshaw on ITV soap opera from 2000 until 2016, added: “Yessss Kirky lad 
big one that mate”
His devoted fans also left a number of lovely messages for him to read.
One wrote: “Congrats mate looks like that photo was taken yesterday 
”
Another said: “Congratulations! What a wonderful achievement and Kirk adds so much to the show. Please keep the nation smiling 
”
A third added: “Keep up the good work xx”
Andy kickstarted his career with his first credited role in British crime drama series Cracker in 1993.
He went on to get parts in The Cops, Heartbeat and Where the Heart Is and also played Darren Sinclair-Jones in The Royle Family from 1999 to 2000.
Then Andy landed his role on the popular ITV soap and has been involved in a number of big storylines including getting married to Beth Tinker, being Buzzy Bee the mascot for Weatherfield’s football team and he even thought that he could pursue a career in singing.
Last year Kirk supported his wife Beth (Lisa George) during her niece Sinead Tinker’s (Katie McGlynn) heartbreaking battle with cervical cancer.
But Andy admitted in an interview with OK! Magazine that his favourite storyline was when he tied the knot with the machinist five years ago.
He said: “I think Kirk getting married to Beth (Lisa George) has been my favourite storyline because I never thought Kirk would get married.
“He has always been unlucky in love. People always compare Kirk and Beth to Jack and Vera Duckworth but, in my eyes, there will only ever be one Jack and Vera.”
Kirk also constantly supports his sister Maria on screen and it seems that he’s a big family man off screen too.
The star met wife Nichola Willis, 32, in 2005 and tied the knot two years later.
The happy couple share two kids together – 12-year-old Thomas and 10-year-old Hollie – and live in their gorgeous Manchester home.
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Nichola, Hollie and Thomas were Andy’s biggest fans when he jetted off to Australia to take part in I’m A Celebrity 2019 and the show turned him into a huge hit.
The Corrie star narrowly missed out on being crowned King of the Jungle to Jacqueline Jossa, but still had his head held high walking out in second place.
Over the past year during lockdown he’s kept fans entertained with his hilarious social media content.
He’s shown off his rhythm in a number of hilarious dance videos with his family and his two children recently treated their parents to a cheeky Nandos out of their pocket money.