As Imran Habeeb in Coronation Street, actor Charlie De Melo has been dividing fans as he defends fiendish Kelly Neelan’s (Mollie Gibson) legal representative.
She is standing trial alongside Corey Brent (Maximus Evans) after the pair were charged with the murder of Seb Franklin (Harry Visinoni).
Imran is due for a shock when his ex-wife Sabeen (Zora Bishop) arrives, and reveals she is a barrister for Corey.
Off-screen, Charlie couldn’t be more different from his character, who is determined to do whatever it takes to delay the trial.
Fans regularly express their rage about his role on social media, but what is he like in real life?
Caring Charlie, 29, regularly shares pictures of adorable dogs, donates blood, and had a whirlwind relationship with one of his co-stars.
Here’s what we know about his life so far.
Puppy love
(Image: INSTAGRAM)
The star clearly adores dogs, as one glance at his social media shows picture after picture of perfect puppies.
Charlie has two golden retriever dogs called Toni and Sarah, who he often poses with.
Kind-hearted actor Charlie also recently shared updates about an adorable litter of puppies and his journey with them.
Fans were swooning at the sight of the star cradling the pups, and he shared some important messages too.
(Image: INSTAGRAM)
The adorable babies have gone off to learn to be guide dogs, and he encouraged fans to learn more about what they do and how to support the organisations involved.
He wrote under the cute snap: “Goodbye, babies. I’ll miss you all very dearly. Time for you to go out into the world and do some real good, just like guide dog Yogi and your other half brothers and sisters.”
(Image: charliedemelo/Instagram)
Charlie revealed: “Full disclosure, I didn’t start uploading any of the photos or videos of the pups until after they had already left us. The number of thefts during lockdown was such that it was ill advised for me to even run a small risk of them being taken from us.”
“Thank you for showing so much interest and engaging so much with these pups as they grew from little hairy slugs to the goodest boys and girls.
“If you are able and interested, there are many ways to support Guide Dogs UK. If these kinds of journeys and stories meant something to you and you’d like to help tell them, that’s a good way to do it.”
Whirlwind relationship
(Image: Instagram)
Coronation Street fans were very excited when it was revealed Charlie was dating one of his co-stars.
Nicola Thorp played Pat Phelan’s daughter Nicola Rubenstein, and apparently the pair had a close friendship for 10 years first before it blossomed into romance.
The pair got together back in 2018, and things seemed to be going from strength to strength for the colleagues on the cobbles.
(Image: Instagram)
They regularly posted adorable pictures of their adventures together, but sadly it wasn’t meant to be.
Things became strained after Nicola left the show briefly before returning, though she has since left again.
The pair insisted things wouldn’t become awkward though for their colleagues and co-stars, and they continued to work together happily despite splitting in January 2019.
It’s not known if Charlie is currently dating anyone else.
Good deeds
(Image: INSTAGRAM)
When he’s not busy breeding puppies to be future guide dogs, Charlie also regularly posts about his trips to donate blood and encourages his fans to do the same.
The star captioned the snap: “First donation since the rule change. Thought I’d dress up for the occasion. Me donating blood, whilst wearing a rainbow tee shirt and face mask.”
He also revealed that he donated plasma after having Covid, and tries to use his platform for good to raise awareness.
(Image: INSTAGRAM)
Charlie joked: “Proudly holding a bag of my own Blood Wee (or as everyone insisted is calling it, ‘Plasma’).
“Despite my best (continuing) efforts, I had Covid-19 at some point last year. No idea when, where or how. I am extremely fortunate to not even have noticed.”
He also attended Pride with several other Corrie colleagues, and never misses an opportunity to dress up.
Hangs out with his mum
(Image: INSTAGRAM)
It doesn’t get much more wholesome than this. Charlie shared a snap of him enjoying a day out with his beloved mum.
This wasn’t just any day out though – to continue with his love of dogs, they went to watch Crufts for the day.
Note the dog themed top, too.
He captioned the snap: “Crufts 2020 with Mama (and as many Golden Retrievers as I could find).”
Famous friends
(Image: INSTAGRAM)
Charlie regularly posts pictures of his actor friends starring on stage and screen and proudly supports them.
One such mate is Emily Atack, and the Corrie star shared his excitement about going to see her perform onstage.
He wrote: “Lovely night seeing and briefly catching up with my Holly Golightly and glass smasher supreme, Emily Atack.”
They previously starred onstage together in Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and he also worked with Pixie Lott in the same show.
Learned to ride a motorbike
(Image: INSTAGRAM)
Many of us stuck to making banana bread or sourdough over lockdown, but Charlie found himself a wilder hobby: motorbikes.
He proudly shared a snap of his progress on social media.
Charlie described the pic as: “Me holding up my Compulsory Basic Training Certificate, which enables me to ride motorbikes, albeit small ones with L plates. I’m stood in front of a small, red motorbike, smiling dopily.”
Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm on ITV
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
