Former Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas was left feeling emotional

this week after returning to the ITV soap’s original set.

The actor, who played Jason Grimshaw on the cobbles for 16 years before leaving in 2016,

was invited to a birthday bash in what used to be the soap’s old medical centre,

taking him back to one of the “most important times” in his life.

Taking to his Instagram Story, Ryan shared a photo of himself standing outside the building,

captioning it: “I got invited to a friend’s 70th in Manchester last week.

I had no idea it was going to be in the old medical centre of the original Coronation Street.”

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The soap was originally filmed at a set on Quay Street between 1982 and 2013 (where Ryan filmed the majority of his scenes as Jason), before moving to MediaCityUK in Salford in 2014.

The Dancing on Ice winner continued: “This is where the most important time of my life all started. Makes me emotional coming back here. I would not be where I am today without this magical place growing up.”

Ryan also shared a photo of himself pointing at what used to be Jason’s home, No.11, as well as the building he auditioned for the role in.

“Top of this building is where I did my audition for Jason… now the new Soho House in Manchester,” he wrote.

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After winning Dancing on Ice with his professional skating partner Amani Fancy earlier this year in a tense final against Made in Chelsea‘s Miles Nazaire and radio DJ Adele Roberts, Ryan shared his hopes to return to acting.

“Returning to acting is something I have been talking about. It is my trade after all, so I need to use that to the best of my advantage,” he said.

“There’s no definite role and it would all depend on what comes up but we’ll see what happens.”

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.

Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage