He’s caused chaos on the cobbles in a short amount of time, but now actor Emrhys Cooper,

who plays cult leader Rowan Cunliffe, is leaving Coronation Street.

Coronation Street actor Emrhys Cooper, who plays The Institute’s villainous Rowan Cunliffe,

is leaving the cobbles later this year, after joining the soap four months ago.

During his time in Weatherfield, Rowan has groomed Leanne Battersby, drawing her into his cult and secretly recording her innermost secrets, and he has also blackmailed Leanne’s sister Toyah and Nick Tilsley after he discovered their affair.

However, Rowan won’t be thinking up many more nefarious plans for the residents of Coronation Street as he is set to leave the soap for good later this year.

According to a source who spoke to The Sun: “Emrhys has been a great addition to the street but he does play a dastardly villain and so his story always had a beginning, a middle and an end.”

Rowan has been grooming Leanne in Coronation Street

“Rowan’s going to get even worse over the next few months and the story’s nowhere near its ending just yet but he will be saying goodbye to the cobbles. The question is whether he gets his comeuppance or how many more lives he destroys before he leaves?”

Rowan joined Corrie in March, when he quickly charmed Leanne at one of his seminars at the Chariot Square Hotel. Leanne was taken aback when the group mentor of The Institute approached her with some unsolicited advice as she grappled with ongoing tensions with fiance Nick Tilsley, but Rowan soon won her over.

While Emrhys was a new face on the cobbles, the actor has enjoyed a varied career on stage and screen before joining the soap. Before Coronation Street, he was based in the US where he appeared in shows including Desperate Housewives and CSI: NY.

“I played Eva Longoria’s business manager in the final series of Desperate Housewives as well as the male lead in the series Vanity,” Emrhys said in an interview with OK! earlier this year.

On stage, he has appeared in Mamma Mia! The Musical, Fame the musical and We Will Rock You and as a dancer he worked with Madonna, Pussycat Dolls, and Christina Aguilera. Fans also recognised him as the ‘geeky guy’ in the music video for Sugababes’ song Push The Button.

On a Reddit thread, one fan said: “Rowan’s actor is in the Push the Button music video by sugababes!” A second added: “Oh wild, I can see the resemblance now a bit. He is still very handsome but it really doesn’t look like him in the video. Crazy!”

A third said: “Wow I would never have made that connection! Heidi Range was fab in this video and it’s a great song.” Another user penned: “Heidi ruffling his hair, making him look the part for a future role in Corrie.”

When he leaves the Street later this year, Emrhys already has another part lined up, as Prince Frederick in Snow White at St Helen’s Theatre Royal this Christmas.