Eileen Grimshaw is a Coronation Street legend.
The character has been portrayed by Sue Cleaver on the long-running soap since 2000. It wasn't the first time Sue has appeared on the ITV show as she briefly appeared as Sister Treece in 1994, six years before she arrived on Weatherfield in the role she is most renowned for.
Sue has played Eileen through some of the soap's most dramatic storylines as she has endured turbulent romances with characters such as Dennis Stringer, Michael Rodwell and notorious killer Pat Phelan. Eileen continues to be an integral part of the soap and she has recently forged a new relationship with funeral director George Shuttleworth.
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However, her love life woes look set to continue as she felt rejected this week when George made an excuse after she asked him to stay the night. Away from the screen, Sue's life is fortunately less dramatic than her character's - and she once revealed she was training to become a psychotherapist.
She told Soaplife: "I am qualified to take clients and have another 18 months to go before I can finish my four-year course in Analysis Psychotherapy at the Manchester Institute for Psychotherapy. It's hard work fitting it in with Corrie, but I love it."
However, Sue was forced to defer her final year in 2018 due to filming commitments. Sue was married to James Quinn from 1993 -2003 and the two share a son named Elliott.
The soap star is now in a relationship with Brian Owen, who is a member of the backstage crew on Coronation Street. It was reported in 2019 that Sue overhauled her lifestyle and dropped three stone so she could enjoy a longer life with her partner and son.
A source told Woman's Magazine: “Sue was always a self-confessed foodie, who admitted that over-indulgence was her Achilles Heel. Now everything’s changed. Sue’s in her mid 50s so it was a no brainer that cutting down on certain things was what she had to do. She’s in this for the long game and wants to live a long, happy and healthy life.”
Sue suffers with diabetes and dropped to a size 12 - 14 by following a low-sugar Mediterranean diet. Although she follows a healthier lifestyle, Sue was rocked in 2019 when she contracted sepsis.
She told This Morning how she was rushed to hospital as her temperature soared to 39.9°C. She said: "Like many, I suffer with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and I just thought I had had a flare up.
"I felt very tired and like I just needed to go home and go to bed. The next day, in July this year, was one of the hottest days of the year, but Sue felt freezing."
She added: "My side was sore, and I was on [the Coronation Street] set with a hot water bottle, shaking. My feet were blue and in pain. I was freezing on the hottest day of the year. I thought I had the flu."
It was later that night, as Sue tried to sleep, that her husband rang and found it hard to understand her because her teeth were chattering so much. He rang his daughter, a paramedic, and she advised him to take her straight to A&E. Sue said this saved her life.
Doctors and nurses rushed around the soap star and she was diagnosed with sepsis - a rare but potentially fatal condition, which can cause multiple organ failure. It had been brought on by a severe kidney infection which Sue had mistaken for IBS pains.
She said she was on bed rest for weeks and suffered from traumatic nightmares following her treatment and it has taken her a lot longer than expected to get better. But she wanted viewers to listen to her story and learn to listen to their body, and said: "We just put up and get on with things and make excuses. But you can't."
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV and ITV Hub
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