BOYZONE - DUFFY QUITS CORONATION STREET

Former BOYZONE heart-throb KEITH DUFFY is quitting the British TV soap opera CORONATION STREET.

The 30-year-old Irishman - who plays barman CIARAN McCARTHY - is leaving the Manchester-based drama after two-and-a-half years after believing his character has "run his course".

He says, "In the Boyzone days I used to walk down the street with my head down because you never knew what reaction you'd get.

"I used to get paranoid walking into a bar, not knowing what was going to happen.

"But I lost that playing Ciaran. It was 99 per cent positive. Even head-in-the-balls tough guys, they were all saying, 'Man, you're all right. Top dude, nice one'."

Bosses are currently planning a sensational exit for the star - rumoured to be a gruesome murder.