In my time, I’ve heard many an excuse for why a bloke doesn’t want to settle down, but Coronation Street star Bill Roache – who of course plays Ken Barlow – has managed to put a new spin on those excuses, saying that he needs to be single in order to spread his “message.”

Is that what they’re calling it these days?

However, Bill – who’s dating weather girl Emma Jesson – is actually entirely serious, and has provided the Daily Mirror with a candid interview in which he makes a few more of what some would consider ‘outlandish’ statements about his views on existentialism and the universe in general.

Bill has of course formerly revealed that he believes in an afterlife, and recently, he also claimed that a spirit visited him in his sleep to inform him that in the future, humans would be able to communicate via telepathy.

In today’s interview, he says that he knows his spirit has lived before in a different body, and that when he dies, he’ll go back into the spirit world before being reincarnated, possibly on another planet…

He added, “A lot of people think we are just animals. You live, you die and that’s it, but I could never believe that.

“There is a whole spiritual realm, we came from there and you go back to there. At the moment we are incarnate in this physical vehicle to experience emotions.

“But when that vehicle dies we go back to the spiritual world which is a very beautiful place, made up of pure love.

“People think the spiritual realm is like sitting in a cloud, but it is very real. There are universities, places of learning, you can do whatever you want.

“I have no fear of getting older. This vehicle will get older and when William Roache has served its purpose I’ll leave it and go back to the spiritual world.

“Then, whenever I feel like I need to incarnate to learn a bit more I’ll do it. I might incarnate on another planet.

“I may have already been someone before and I may be someone again, but I don’t know and I don’t need to know. You can have 20, 30 reincarnations, maybe 100.

“You deal with what you are in the here and now, but this is temporary. The reality is the spiritual world.”

He went on to say, “I feel sorry for people who don’t understand. When I talk about love, I don’t mean the needy emotion some people call love, I mean the energy, the pure light.

“That unconditional love that creates all things.

“It is the most powerful force in the universe, it’s a nuclear power that can zap anything.

“There are people out there who know how to use it and send it out like a bolt of fire in the Biblical sense.”

William continued saying that he’s happier now than he’s ever been, and he added that his beliefs have helped him to get through “a great deal of heartache.”

But he says he doesn’t feel it’s necessary to marry his girlfriend Emma because he fears that doing so could distract him from his life’s work, which is to spread the word about his beliefs to as many people as possible.

He said, “Emma is lovely. We don’t meet up all that often, she’s away doing the weather, I’m away doing other things.

“There are no great ties. I have no issue with age differences. I’m young at heart, so it’s a soul affinity that matters.

“I’m not in a cult, but I am with a small group of others who all feel the same and are dedicated to getting this message out…

“My legacy needs to be that I helped as many people as possible realise they are immortal, spiritual beings that are pure love and you are forgiven for everything you do.”

And a wedding ring may hinder that? To each his own I guess!