Coronation Street's Marc Anwar claims that his racist Twitter rant was 'a moment of madness'

Marc Anwar has suffered a rather public fall from grace over the last 24 hours, with the Pakistani Coronation Street star being immediately sacked by ITV after he went on a vile Twitter rant that branded Indians as “b*stards” and “p*ss-drinking c*nts”.

Now the actor has apologised for his racist outburst, dubbing it as “a moment of madness”.

Posting a video to YouTube, Marc begs his fans to “forgive” him, sharing: “I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to anyone I may have offended with my tweets on Friday evening and especially people from India. This was never my intention.

“The language was unacceptable. I feel I have let a lot of people down. My family, my friends and my former colleagues. This I sincerely apologise for.

“On Friday evening I saw on the news children being pulled out of rubble, people being pelted with pellets, women mourning their dead in Kashmir. This upset me very deeply and in a moment of madness I ranted out and vented my anger.

“My feelings were very sincere for the people of Kashmir and I hope that everyone that everyone I have offended can find it in their hearts to forgive me.”

Coronation Street producers fired Marc, who played Sharif Nazir in the soap, immediately, scuppering their Christmas storyline in the process.

Sharif’s seven-year affair with family friend Sonia had just been exposed in Weatherfield and the aftermath was expected to run into the festive period, forcing scriptwriters to instead adapt the storyline so that his sudden departure is as believable as possible.

It has also been claimed that Marc’s co-stars have been banned from talking about his rant as ITV go into full damage-control mode.