Karl is playing Nicky Walters’ ex-husband, Anthony
Karl’s Waterloo Road character is a far cry from the Dales bad boy, as he takes on the role of Anthony Walters – Nicky’s (Kym Marsh) ex-husband.

Anthony is brought in as a coach for the girls’ football team, but his arrival causes a stir for Nicky, who has taken on a new role at the school herself, and daughter Tonya Walters (Summer Bird).

Elsewhere, as revealed at the end of the last series, Steph is back at Waterloo Road as a supply teacher amid a staffing crisis.

She later comes to the rescue when a different crisis arises among the students.

Steph was a major character in Waterloo Road for the first five series, appearing as a guest in a couple of series six episodes.

Away from the BBC drama, actress Denise Welch has appeared as a Loose Women panellist, as well as taking on speaking roles in all four of the major UK soaps.

This year, she has even released a Christmas song!

Speaking to Metro during the promotion of her single, she revealed that Waterloo Road has garnered her fans in all corners of the world.

Denise and husband Lincoln visited Tallinn, Estonia, while on a cruise, hoping to visit the town where part of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was filmed. It was there that her tour guide recognised her.

‘She went to me, “Oh, my God, I don’t believe it”, and I said, “What?” She said, “You[‘re off] the Waterloo Road school”,’ Denise laughed.

‘Apparently, they got Waterloo Road in Estonia. She was going to people, “She’s off the Waterloo Road school”, and all these people were waving at me.

‘That was quite bizarre. To think that I’m quite a name in Estonia. I love that.’

Meanwhile, in the upcoming series of Waterloo Road, the arrival of excluded students and familiar faces is set to cause chaos in the corridors, as staff and students alike face new challenges with both prom and a wedding on the horizon.

And with new deputy head Darius Donovan (Jon Richardson) at the helm, how far will he go to keep his power?

With topical issues often at the centre of Waterloo Road, the upcoming series will explore topics such as hearing impairment management at schools, young love, exploitation, grief, addiction and family dynamics.

Also joining the cast as new students are Freddy Smith as Freddie Hollister, Olivia Booth-Ford as Leoni Tennant, Myra-Sofia Iftikhar as Aisha Azzi, Sana Ali as Badr Azzi and Isha Kaur as Harleen Lamba.