Claire Sweeney is thrilled as she confirmed she has joined the cast of Coronation Street.
The 52-year-old from Walton is renowned for her portrayal of Lindsey Corkhill in the Merseyside set soap, Brookside. However, she said she can't believe it as she announced she has traded the Close for the Cobbles as she will play Tyrone Dobbs' mum, Cassie.
She said: "Even though I’ve been lucky enough to have enjoyed an amazingly varied career for nearly 40 years - being cast in Coronation Street is, to me, better than being cast in a Hollywood movie!
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"I’ve watched it all my life and can’t quite believe that I’ll now be stepping onto those famous cobbles myself. I was really nervous when I got the scripts to audition as this show means so much to me and my family and this is Corrie gold, I was beyond thrilled and very grateful when I got the call that Iain MacLeod is trusting me to play Tyrone's Mum and work alongside one of my heroes, Dame Maureen Lipman.
"Cassie is a character who is definitely going to make an impact - I just hope the audience will enjoy watching her as much as I'm going to be enjoying playing her!”
Claire will shoot her first scenes next week and Cassie will make her on-screen Corrie debut in the episode broadcast on June 28. Tyrone is played by Alan Halsall and the character grew up thinking that his mum was Jackie Dobbs, played by the iconic Margi Clarke.
However, a storyline in 2018 brought him into contact with Evelyn for the first time, who revealed her daughter was his biological mother. Evelyn did not trust Cassie to look after him due to her drug habit and abandoned Tyrone at a police station in 1982.
Evelyn told Tyrone that his biological mum had died and the show producer said the Weatherfield mechanic is set to face more heartache when Cassie arrives on the Cobbles this summer.
Iain MacLeod said: "Claire bowled us over in her audition and the scenes with her, Tyrone and Evelyn will be electric. Her arrival will mark the start of a tumultuous time for Tyrone and the family and her impact will be felt across the street in the weeks and months that follow.”
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