And suddenly Coronation Street seems as empty as the average High Street petrol pump.

With his menacing stare and chilling ability to SHOUT VERY LOUDLY at the drop of a hat, demonic Jez electrified our No1 soap.

But actor Lee Boardman, who brought the evil drug-dealing weasel to life, tells me: "I'm glad Jez is dead.

"If they'd kept me in The Street, I would have ended up s******g Deirdre!

"That's not a bad thing in itself, but it would have been no good for the character. Jez should never be toned down."

He adds: "Jez was fantastic to play. What a part! I got to slap people and get paid handsomely for it."

For all his callous cruelty, the British public took Jez to their hearts, "I haven't received a single piece of hate mail," says Lee, 28. "Instead I've had people stopping me in the street and saying 'Give Steve one for me!'

"For some reason, people can't stand Steve McDonald."

So was Jez misunderstood or just pure evil? "Pure evil, no question," Lee answers without hesitation. "A seriously dodgy geezer."

Are you like him at all? If you had a bad review would you garrotte a critic?

"A few years ago I probably would have done. I have got the most terrible temper. But playing Jez has changed me.

"I channelled all that negative energy into making him a total b******. I'm a more serene individual now."

Lee's gorgeous, green-eyed girlfriend Jennifer James, who plays Rovers barmaid Geena, calls him "a big softie". They met last year in the Coronation Street green room. "It was love at first sight," Lee says.

"The first time I proposed to her was during a trip to the Lake District. She was being sick in a bag at the time. She had food poisoning and I was holding her hair out of her face."

Lee will marry Jennifer, 22, on May 12 next year. They share a two-bedroom flat in Manchester.

"I asked her to marry me a few times before she said yes," he reveals. "The clincher was when I tricked her into a hotel room to 'meet my sister'. I'd covered the room with long-stemmed roses. She knew I was serious then."

Lee was born in Stockport, a ten-minute drive from the granada TV sutdios in Manchester, on July 2, 1972.His dad is in the bakery trade, his mum works as a receptionist. He has three older sisters.

A classically trained actor, Lee made his TV debut as a villain in Band of Gold. I first met him when he played a drunk in the inspired part-improvised play Joey & Gina's Wedding.

"You don't remember me do you?" he says. "I came up to you at the bar and asked you for an autograph.

"I pretended I thought you were Noel Edmonds."

Lee is a down-to-earth guy. His all-time favourite comic is Les Dawson.

"My big regret is that I'll never get to meet him. Mick Miller is brilliant, a real funny man," he says.

"I even like watching The Comedians on Granada Plus. Bernard Manning was fantastic in the Seventies."

On TV now he rates David Letterman, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Jim Royle and Jonathan Ross - "he can be so cutting."

Earlier this month, Lee met Nasty Nick at the TV Quick Awards and posed with him for The Sun using a less than friendly hand gesture.

Lee laughs. "You noticed then," he chuckles. "I couldn't be bothered with all that Big Brother stuff. I thought. 'Who are these nonentities putting actors and entertainers out of work?'

"Those two girls, Caroline and Nichola, were a nightmare. What a pair of harridans. I blanked them."

Had you had a few? "I do like booze," Lee admits. "I love brandy. I did Richard and Judy the next day with a major hangover.

I can't remember what I said, I just sat there trying not to be sick."

I thought you were subdued. Jez would have given Richard a slap and made Judy his bitch.

"I would have loved to have done that," he jokes. "She was lovely."

Do you enjoy mixing with lah-di-dah types?

"I do enjoy going to expensive restaurants and lording it up for a laugh but at home I'm a beans-on-toast man."

What are you going to miss about Corrie?

"The fight scenes. I'm great mates with Simon Gregson who plays Steve but when I had to deck him the fight director said to give him a proper dig so I did - and he hit the deck!

"A few times in rehearsal he forgot to duck and went down like a ton of bricks. Once I had to throw him into a telelphone box and nearly broke his arm."

I wasn't sure about your ruck with Jim. I can understand a 63 year old man with a dodgy ticket slapping his son but are we expexcted to believe a middle-aged man who couldn't walk two years ago could beat up the local tough nut?

I've got to tell you he beat the c**p out of me for real. We agreed to do the scene without a fight director and Charlie Lawson can really hit.

"I was in pieces. I've still got bruises on me ribs. He threw me on to a table that was like a big cheese grater on me back."

ITV are keen to keep hold of Lee. An exclusive contract is due on the table.

"I'm hoping it'll be a Ross Kemp-style offer where I get big starring parts,! he says. "I've got a part in a feature film, POV, which is out in December.

"But long term I quite fancy a move to Albert Square. I'd love to sort Martin Kemp out."