Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver said her time on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! has opened her eyes to new experiences and she is now seeking her next challenge. The soap actress, 59, became the third celebrity to be eliminated from the ITV reality show during its most recent series, which was won by former England footballer Jill Scott.
As she approaches the end of her 50s, she reflected on her life and what she is looking forward to with Prima magazine. She told the magazine: “My 50s have been the happiest decade of my life. I’m happy with me and where I am, so I’m looking forward to seeing what the next decade brings.
“Then again, if it doesn’t bring anything, I’m just going to have to make something happen myself. Since doing I’m A Celeb, my eyes have been opened to all these new experiences. Now, I’m just thinking, ‘Right, what’s my next challenge?’”
During her time on the ITV reality show, she opened up about her experience of being adopted to her fellow campmates – which she said she “never expected” to do. Cleaver described the reconciliation with her birth mother as occurring under the “most extraordinary circumstances”.
She had explained on the show that when she was in her early twenties she was at drama school and the Royal Exchange in Manchester were looking for “tiny parts” for the theatre production of Oedipus. After walking in on the first day, an actor said: “Oh my god, she’s the absolute double of my wife when I met her,” before asking Cleaver for her date of birth.
Cleaver said he then asked where she was born, before ringing his wife to say: “I’ve found her.” The actress told the magazine she has experienced a number of other “extraordinary coincidences” with her half-sisters.
She revealed: “I don’t think anyone would believe the whole story. Helen Worth (who plays Gail Platt on Coronation Street) is godmother to one of my half-sisters, while my other half-sister’s husband, John Bowe, also appeared in Coronation Street. “We’re all bizarrely interconnected.”
Cleaver, who has played Eileen Grimshaw in the ITV soap since 2000, said getting the role was such a “happy moment” for her. She added: “There’s a sense of community, family and teamwork on set unlike any other show.
“It might have something to do with people in the north being so friendly, but people on other shows have told me how unique it is. Getting to be a little cog in the big production has been an utter joy.”
Read the full interview in Prima’s March issue, on sale now.
