Coronation Street fans have been left gobsmacked after realising the actress who plays Dr Susan Gaddas previously portrayed played a completely different character.

As the friendly face of Rosamund Street Medical Centre, the iconic doctor (Christine Mackie) has been a regular on screens since 2014. And over the years, she has welcomed several residents to take a seat in her surgery.

She helped Sinead Tinker (Katie McGlynn) amid her cervical cancer battle and also diagnosed Max Turner (Paddy Bever) with ADHD. Meanwhile earlier this year, she stepped in to help Abi Webster (Sally Carman).

As fans will recall, she was struggling following the death of Mason Radcliffe (Luca Toolan) – hallucinating both him and her dead son Seb Franklin (Harry Visinoni).

However, while Dr Gaddas has become a firm favourite over the years, viewers have been left floored after finding out the actress has starred on the soap three times before.

Christine’s first role was way back in 1989, playing a nurse at the Victoria Hospital in Blackpool. In 1992, Christine returned to take on the role of Chris Jones, a tutor at the School of Nursing.

Eighteen years later in 2010, Christine made her comeback in a totally different role. This time, she played Bella, a dancing instructor at the Salsa class attended by Haley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh) and Anna Windass (Debbie Rush).

Reacting to a photo of Christine’s previous appearance on the soap on a Coronation Street Facebook fan page, one person penned: “The one and only Dr Gaddas appeared on Corrie three times before! Did anyone else know this?”

Someone else chimed in: “I didn’t”. A third also said: “No way, she looks so different.”

In January, Dr Gaddas actor Christine Mackie spoke out about the character’s cult following with viewers. Appearing on the ‘Conversation Street’ podcast, she said: “I do know from my experience over the 10 years that people love Gaddas, and I’m deeply grateful that they do.

“People are so nice about her. People always want to talk about her and how she is. I think it’s because she’s like the doctor you can’t quite have anymore because the relationship is so changed for us, there’s this little bit of nostalgia.

“At the same time she’s very much in the moment and very present when she’s doing everything, so she’s absolutely involved and has affection for the characters.”