James Nesbitt reveals why Friends legend turned down 'c**p part' in ITV show

James Nesbitt has expressed his desire to bring back his hit TV series Cold Feet, as he reflected on his time on the show and confessed it was a "big part" of his life

James Nesbitt has expressed his desire to revive the popular ITV series Cold Feet.

The 59-year-old actor, who first took on the role of Adam Williams in 1997, is keen to return to the show that also starred Helen Baxendale, John Thomson and Fay Ripley. Speaking on ITV's Lorraine, he said: "I'd love to do that. It was such a big part of my life, it opened so many doors for me, people still talk to me about it on a daily basis."

James was part of the original run in 2003 before returning with John, Fay, Hermione Norris and Robert Bathurst for a revival in 2016, which ran for four series until 2020. He added: "It'd be good to do more of it because I think people are still interested in what the characters are doing."

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The show's creator Mike Bullen previously revealed that he had written a part for Helen - whose character Rachel Bradley was killed off in the original series - but the former Friends star did not want to return as a ghost. He told The Guardian newspaper: "The show's creator Mike Bullen had previously written a part for Helen - whose character Rachel Bradley was killed off in the original series - but she declined to return as a ghost. She said, 'Thanks but no thanks - it's a crap part'. She definitely made the right decision. It was just me being sentimental."

Mike hinted that the show could indeed come back after a few more years and deal with themes like "the barrel of grandparenthood". He further stated: "We feel we've explored to our satisfaction the issues confronting the characters at this stage of their lives and we want to give them all a little time to move on, to put clear water between the stories we've told thus far and the issues they'll be exploring when they are empty nesters staring down the barrel of grandparenthood."

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