Cherylee Houston is back on our screens tonight - and knows first hand the ordeal her character has been through.
The much-loved Coronation Street star has spent much of the last year away from the role of Izzy Armstrong because she has been shielding at home during the coronavirus pandemic.
Cherylee has been filming scenes which air this week from the safety of her own home - transforming part of her house into a set by picking out “everything that was Izzy-like”.
The powerful new storyline will highlight the plight of millions of disabled workers in the pandemic and the pressures they face trying to work remotely while shielding.
Cherylee suffered with painful joints from the age of 11, but after years of misdiagnosis it was only aged 23 when she was diagnosed with a rare connective tissue disorder.
After graduating from drama school the actress discovered she has the chronic condition Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and has used a wheelchair ever since.
Cherylee’s joints are unstable and she has tissue damage in her muscles and tendons, which results in sprains, dislocations and constant pain.
But she explained she would never choose to get rid of her disability because it’s made her into the person she is today.
“I wouldn’t not want to have my disability because it’s taught me so many things,” she explained.
“Even though the pain is horrendous it’s taught me to push through and it’s taught me inner strength. I wouldn’t have the mindset I have if I hadn’t lived through that.”
Cherylee’s first role was as a girl with multiple sclerosis in Doctors - and since then she’s also appeared in Emmderdale, The Bill, Holby City and as Andy Pipkin’s girlfriend in Little Britain.
But her big break came when she landed the role of Izzy on Corrie in 2010 - and she’s rained a key part of the soap ever since.
Izzy was in a relationship with Gary Windass, who is the father of her son Jake, but has struggled in love on the cobbles.
However, it’s a very different story for Cherylee, whose real-life husband will be joining her in front of the camera.
Cherylee’s husband, Toby Hadoke, is also an actor who has already had three cameos in Corrie, but now he’s doing scenes with his wife.
The stand-up comedian is known for his work on the Manchester comedy circuit, runs the XS Malarkey comedy club and has also appeared in Emmerdale, Shameless and Phoenix Night’s.
Toby will be playing Izzy’s corned neighbour Fergus, who tries to protect her while she is shielding at home and unable to go into the factory.
A frustrated Carla is unhappy with the sub-standard work and demands that if Izzy does not return to work she’ll be sacked.
Reflecting on working with partner Toby, Cherlyee revealed: "It’s been percolating for quite a while.
“When you’re in a relationship with another actor, you never canvas for a job on that person’s behalf.
"But I was very lucky because I have been around and a couple of the writers knew my work and the casting directors probably first saw me about 20 years ago.
"So I think when they were thinking about telling the story, early on they thought they needed somebody else but how will they get somebody else in and one of the writers said well, Toby could do it.
"So she came up with this part that has some similarities and some differences. The character was kind of written with me in mind a little bit which was nice. It’s been percolating for quite a while but it wasn’t a done deal and it didn’t come through Chez either."
Cherlyee and Toby turned their home into the set because she has been unable to leave the house since the start of the pandemic.
The actress is not due to return to the soap until lockdown has finally been lifted and has not been in another building apart from a hospital since last March.
“Life has been complicated. Family relationships have had to be managed differently,” explained Cherylee.
"We’ve had no takeaways, we’ve not had the least bit of the outside world coming in, because it’s not felt safe, Covid hasn’t gone.
“I’ve kept busy and stayed positive, but at my hospital appointment last year my anxiety was through the roof. I’ve never experienced that breathlessness or that panic.
"I do mindfulness and meditation anyway to help with my chronic pain – I’m continually in pain and I don’t know what it’s like not to be – that was a good toolkit for the pandemic.”
Horrifyingly, Cherylee still faces discrimination for her disability, which “hurt like hell” at first but now she often finds it “entertaining”.
She has revealed one woman wanted her chucked off a train because of her electric scooter, while people clamber over her in the shops.
In 2015, Cherylee revealed she was wrongly branded a 'benefits cheat' in an attack on her own doorstep.
After witnessing the actress struggle a few steps to her wheelchair, she was threatened with being reported by a man claiming he would ‘expose her’.
Cherylee tweeted: "Wow disability hate crime knocked on our front door today literally. Scary as shows how much our country's instinct is to hate not think.
"He was very rude to Toby and obviously disgusted that I wasn't paralysed.. Said it wasn't right and he was going to papers. Vile. Ignorant," she added.
Cherylee revealed that she was 'shaken up' by the incident even though she wasn't there and her husband 'got it all'.
That same year, the actress bravely brandished an adult nappy to hit out at Tory cuts.
She was met by gasps of horror when she held up the incontinence pad at a Labour conference.
Away from Corrie, Cherylee works with DANC, the Disabled Artists Networking Community, which helps disabled performers find jobs and training.
She said: “We’ve gone from 450 disabled artists to 1,100. We’re working with all the main broadcasters and we’ve also done 170 webinars, workshops and masterclasses.
“In the 80s my condition would have meant I’d have been locked up in a care home because I needed support, but people fought to get disabled people out into the community.
"I can now get on a train and not be put in the guard’s van in the dark because people fought for us to use public transport. I want to use my time to help give others opportunities.”
