The award-winning ITV1 soap opera’s actors and actresses have experienced heartache outside of the show in addition to drama and tragedy on the cobblestones.
The popular show Coronation Street is known for being a drama-filled soap opera and frequently wins awards for its compelling plotlines.
However, some of the show’s well-known actors and actresses have had tragic experiences away from the cobblestones.
The celebrities who appear on our screens each night have their own harrowing experiences, including cancer scares, heartbreaking diagnoses, sudden deaths, and unexpected family deaths.
The Manchester-based soap and the people behind it have experienced tragedy both on and off-screen, starting with Sally Dynevor’s family loss and cancer diagnosis and ending with the unexpected death of a rising soap star.
Young sudden death
It was revealed that Joseph Wandera passed away in February 2022 at the age of 27.
The young actor first made an appearance in the soap opera in 2018, taking on the role of a potential buyer for Eileen Grimshaw’s car, which she was then selling.
Joseph, who was only 27 when he tragically passed away in January, had a fatal seizure.
According to police coroner Kathy Dixon, Joseph was vacationing in Costa Rica and staying with friends after attending a party.
Kathy told the inquest: “Whilst at a party, Joseph rang his girlfriend and explained that he did not feel well.
“He contacted a friend who picked him up and took him back to their apartment.”
She added: “Joseph went to sleep on the sofa. A few hours later, the friend found Joseph on the sofa having a seizure.
“Medics were called but they were unable to revive him and he sadly passed away.”
Family loss
Sally Dynevor, who plays the role of Sally Metcalfe on the cobbles, announced on January 15 that her family had suffered a loss.
Just a few weeks ago Sally took to Twitter to pay tribute to her mother-in-law who had sadly passed away.
Sally’s mother-in-law, Shirley Dynevor, was 90 years of age and a fellow famous actress, who starred in Rogue Male and Crown Court.
Sharing two snaps of her mother-in-law on Instagram, Sally simply wrote: “Shirley,” alongside a string of red heart emojis.
Sally’s husband Tim also took to social media to share the news of his mother’s passing, with him sharing a photo of his beloved mum, he wrote: “Mum – May 15, 1933 – January 10, 2023.”
Shirley, who is 90 years old, gained notoriety in the 1950s and was born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1933.
Shirley gained popularity in the late 1950s thanks to her role in the cherished TV show Charlesworth.
Cancer battles
Sally Dynevor also experienced a second tragedy in her life in 2009 when she received a breast cancer diagnosis at the same time as her on-screen counterpart.
With Sally returning to the soap opera in July 2010 after a six-month break, the actress underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Both she and her on-screen persona went on to make full recoveries.
Along with Sally, Victoria Ekanoye, who played Angie Appleton, was also given a cancer diagnosis.
Victoria discovered a lump while nursing and was later given the diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ, which is when cancer cells begin to grow inside the milk ducts of the breast.
The actress revealed her diagnosis in November 2021, only a few months after giving birth to her first child, Théo, with her partner Jonny Lomas.
She underwent a double mastectomy after which she underwent reconstruction surgery.
Victoria revealed that she was the fifth member of her family to develop breast cancer in an interview with the MailOnline last year.
She claimed that she was now the fifth member of her family—spanning three generations—to develop breast cancer.
Dementia death
Richard Hawley, who played Johnny Connor, tragically lost his father Peter, who was in his early 70s, when he started to experience dementia.
Richard at the time told The Mirror, “He was an amazing man.
“He was an attorney and was very passionate about the law, but he was also very artistic and creative. He was a talented pianist as well as a prolific painter. He had amazing talent.”
When he was a child, he recalled to the newspaper how he would awaken to the sound of his father playing the piano.
Speaking to the newspaper, he described how his father “started to include lots of black squares in his paintings” as his father’s Alzheimer’s began to manifest itself.
Adding: “At the time we didn’t know why, but later we wondered if that was a sign of the disease.”
He then spoke of a “distressing” time when his dad would “paint over” some of his paintings, adding: “it felt like the turmoil in his mind was pouring out”.
Heartbreaking death of partner
In January 2021 Dame Maureen Lipman announced that her partner of 13 years had died after a battle with coronavirus.
Her partner, businessman Guido Castro, was 84 when he passed away shortly after contracting the virus and having his health “weakened” by it.
Maureen, who plays Corrie’s Evelyn Plummer, was with her partner – who she had dated since 2008 – when he passed away.
Speaking to Daily Mail at the time, Maureen said: “My heart is cracking.”
“He got COVID – it wasn’t COVID that killed him but it weakened him terribly,” she went on.
Her partner, who had a form of Parkinson’s Disease, tested positive for the virus days after receiving his first dose of the vaccine.
“We don’t know how he got it or when or if he had it when he got the vaccine,” she added.
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