Marc Anwar: ‘I was already leaving Corrie - no one controls my livelihood but Allah’

Former Coronation Street star Marc Anwar has claimed that he was already set to leave Coronation Street when he was sacked.

The actor, who was let go from the soap after posting a string of allegedly racist tweets, has spoken out to say that ‘no human’ controls his livelihood.

After it was revealed that Anwar had been dismissed from his role on the ITV programme, he wrote on Twitter:

“For the record, #marcanwar was to leave show, end of contract in November, apology is from regret for offending not at early exit. Love all.”

He added: “No human controls my livelihood but My Allah. Never have, never will grovel to anyone! Proud Muslim, proud Pakistani, very proud British.”

Anwar publically apologised for making offensive comments about Indian people on Twitter, which he says was a ‘moment of madness’.

In a video, the actor told the public: “I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to anyone that I may have offended with my tweets on Friday evening and especially people from India.

“This was never my intention and the language was unacceptable. I feel that I have let a lot of people down, my family, my friends and my former colleagues.”

“This I ... very sincerely apologise for.”

He continued: “On Friday evening I saw, on the news, children being pulled out of rubble, people being pelted with pellets, women mourning their dead in Kashmir.

“This upset me very deeply and in a moment of madness I ranted out. I vented my anger.

“Again, the language that I used, I sincerely apologise for. But my feelings were very sincere for the people of Kashmir. And I hope that everyone that I have offended can find it in their hearts to forgive me.”

The Pakistan-born actor, who played Sharif Nazir in the soap from 2014, referred to Indian people as “b*******’ and ‘p***-drinking c****’ in a social media rant, which has since been deleted.

An ITV spokeswoman previously said: “We are deeply shocked by the entirely unacceptable, racially offensive comments made on Twitter by Marc Anwar.

“We have talked to Marc and, as a consequence of his comments, he will not be returning to Coronation Street with immediate effect.”