ITV Coronation Street star left 'dangling' in air after rollercoaster breaks down
Coronation Street's Colson Smith has recalled the time he got marooned on a theme park attraction in Blackpool.
Known for portraying Craig Tinker in the popular soap, he explained what happened during an episode of the On The Sofa podcast with fellow actors Jack P.Shepherd and Ben Price.
During a jaunt to Blackpool Pleasure Beach with his girlfriend, Taylor, misfortune struck while they were aboard the steeplechase, a rollercoaster inspired by horse racing.
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As the couple commenced their ride, they hit a problem ascending the initial hill and ended up suspended mid air.
Colson recounted: "I'm on the steeplechase with Taylor. I go over the first jump, I come up to the first hill - breaks; broke; mid-hill; no, at the peak of the hill. Taylor's at the front; I'm at the back."
He added: "We're on the peak of the hill; it breaks. The other lanes don't break. Everybody else is going. We stop, so my brain's going, 'We're gonna roll backwards; we're gonna roll backwards. It's gonna be terrible.
"Obviously, we're just stuck and I'm like, 'What, what do we do? 'So they're about to start the next horse and I'm like... because we're like, where the first hill is, you can see the start line."
As they were about to begin the "next one", someone started pointing at them. It was then that the workers realised the ride had malfunctioned and promptly stopped it, proceeding to evacuate "everybody off".
Colson recounted how the queue was "out the door" when suddenly the tannoy announced an apology for the inconvenience, promising to call maintenance and advising everyone to "remain calm".
He added: "And I'm thinking, 'Oh my god. I'm stuck on the ride, dangling like 40. Nah, you've seen; have you seen...I've got the picture. I've got some videos. I'm dangling maybe 80 foot in the air."
He further mentioned: "When everybody's getting off the ride - obviously, it's really embarrassing - and then it's, 'Oh god, it's Craig Tinker's broken the ride'."
Amids laughter from his co-hosts, they queried if he was being called "fatty", but Colson noted that "luckily", he was too high up to hear any such remarks.
Meanwhile, Colson's sister found herself in stitches, having called him to ask his whereabouts, only to be humorously advised by Colson to "look up".