AS a chirpy, cheeky chappie in Coronation Street, schoolboy Joe Gilgun won the hearts of millions of viewers as Jack Duckworth's pigeon-fancying friend Jamie Armstrong.

He talks to PAULINE HAWKINS about his life after the soap and his hopes for the future. TALL and lean, and with his shoulder-length dark hair hidden beneath a baseball cap, Joe Gilgun looks nothing like the impish eight-year-old whose natural acting ability won him a role on Britain's most popular soap opera.

His instant success was all the more remarkable as he is dyslexic and finds reading and writing very demanding. So his mum Judith, understandably one of his biggest fans, would read his lines to him.

Joe, then a pupil at Rivington Primary School, would deliver them with perfect timing in much the same way as the series' current schoolboy star David Platt (Jack P Shepherd).

Still only 17, Joe, who lives in Long Lane, Heath Charnock, near Chorley, with his mum and sisters Rosie, 10, and Jennie, 15, is at ease talking about Coronation Street but considers it a chapter of his life that is now closed.

He has some happy memories of his time working closely with characters such as Jack and Vera Duckworth (Bill Tarmey and Elizabeth Dawn) and both cast and crew took the youngster to their hearts.

But his role came to an end when his screen mum Tricia, played by Tracy Brabin, became pregnant by the Duckworths' wayward son Terry. Tracy, pregnant in real life, wanted to leave and so scriptwriters sent her and Joe off to a new life with a painter and decorator named Ray. According to Judith, Bill Tarmey said the final scenes he filmed with Joe "would make a glass eye cry".

Judith, also Joe's sternest critic, said: "Bill was genuinely sorry to see Joe go and it really came across at the end. Jack and Vera are absolute gems, genuinely warm and caring people."

In the harsh and fickle world of showbiz Joe, who appeared in the soap from 1992 to 1997 between the ages of eight and 12, then found it difficult to find new roles because he had been typecast as a cheeky, spiky-haired kid.

Life out of the Street had already become difficult for him when he switched to Southlands High School in Chorley.

"Primary school was so small. Everyone knew each other and it wasn't 'Joe off the TV', it was 'Joe from up the road', which was what I liked. "It got a lot worse hitting secondary school because the kids are older than you and they used to shout 'pigeon boy' and 'pigeon knickers'. A lot of it was jealousy," he said.

Judith, who is separated from Joe's father Andrew, said: "Joe is dyslexic and reading and writing don't come easy. Because of this he was always the class clown to mask his inadequacies."

When he was eight he went to see an educational psychologist who said felt he should be encouraged to take up something he was interested in. He chose acting and went to Oldham Theatre Workshop, where he was described as having "exceptional talent". He was cast in the pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with ex-Emmerdale and You've Been Framed star Lisa Riley, who was also an unknown at the time.

Judith and Andrew took turns to ferry him to auditions and events which, when he was in Coronation Street, included him appearing with Bill Tarmey and presenting a cheque from the Pigeon Fanciers of Great Britain to Help the Aged. Young Joe knew nothing about pigeons and confessed as much to his audience, who had been under the impression that he and Bill were pigeon fanciers in real life. But the workload meant that Joe's education was suffering and after Coronation Street he had to work hard to try and catch up. His GCSE results were disappointing except for an A* in drama and an A for art.

He now attends drama classes on Saturdays in Oldham and is studying art at Runshaw College, Leyland, during the week as something to fall back on if his acting career fails to take off again.

Having been a star before he reached his teens, he wants a second chance now he is a young adult.

He said: "People used to say I was cute. "Recently my agent has made me grow my hair. Mum likes it short but I am getting quite used to it.

"What I am trying to do now is forget about Coronation Street and move on."

But it seems hopefuls for many shows are judged on how they look rather than how they act. Joe recently auditioned for a part in Hollyoaks but later heard a male model had been awarded the part.

Undaunted, he wants to continue with an acting career and thinks he is best suited to comedy roles. He would love to further his career in America but added: "I don't care what it is as long as it's acting, because I love it. It is the one thing I am good at."