Former soap star Chris Fountain said he was unable to find work for three years after he was identified as a masked internet rapper whose lyrics demeaned women and glorified violence.

The ex-Coronation Street actor said he thought he had destroyed his formerly high-profile acting career forever after he was unmasked as a rapper going under the name of The Phantom in videos posted online.

Fountain, 28, he was deeply ashamed of his actions in an interview with This Morning, adding that he still questioned why had behaved as he did every day.

Fountain admitted that he had put his girlfriend of seven years and his family through "absolute hell" as a result of the scandal.

He was sacked from the role of Tommy Duckworth after the video came to light in which he said he would "rape a b**** on her birthday". Ironically, he also said he was "bored of fame" in his lyrics.

"I let a lot of people down,including myself," he said today.

"I didn't leave the house for along time, I was really depressed, really ashamed and rightly so."

Fountain is now set to return to the limelight for the first time since the scandal in a stage production of male striptease show The Full Monty.

He said that he had questioned whether he deserved another chance after he got a call from co-star Gary Lucy urging him to join the show.

The actor, who first found fame in Hollyoaks, said the vote of confidence meant "a hell of a lot" to him.

"My past few years, my head hasn't been in the right kind of place and I felt a little bit like, 'Do I deserve to be doing this again?'It's a massive fresh start and it's such a gift to be doing what I love."

Some fans offered their support on Twitter, with one writing he had done well by acknowledging his error of judgement over the video.

"I hope you can now move on and get back to doing what you love," she added.