It's impossible to know, reading this chapter from Bruce Jones' point of view (as written by Chris Berry and Ronnie Oliver with a foreword from Status Quo and Ken Loach) whether he's shamed, been set up or is just stupid.
Now then, I don't know Bruce Jones. I've never met him and have no connection to him. I took the reports with a pinch of salt from the News of the World that said he'd got drunk, slagged off his Corrie cast mates, slagged off fans, and revealed plot lines. The News of the World was never good at telling the truth so there should always have been a doubt in our minds because we weren't there and didn't know what happened. Anyway, Coronation Street Producer Steve Frost sacked him from the show, that much we do know for sure. But here's how Bruce Jones explains it in that chapter: Kicked Out of Corrie (page 176 onwards if you want to browse it in a bookshop).
Bruce says he was set up by two News of the World journalists after they conned him into discussions about possible work in Dubai. He expands on that, and it's interesting to read but it's badly written. It's as if someone's taken a recording of Bruce rambling about events and just transcribed them word for word. As for the rest of the chapters in the book, if they're as badly put together and full of ego as the Corrie chapter is, then I've done myself a favour not reading them. That's my personal opinion as a book fan, ardent reader and Coronation Street fan.
To be fair - because as I said earlier, I don't know this man. I just know his Corrie character and the press reports and statement from Corrie when he was sacked - the book might be a good read and I don't want to put off anyone who wants to buy it and find out for themselves. It's available on Amazon here.
