Claire Sweeney has reflected on her time on Brookside as she prepares to make her Coronation Street debut.
The 52-year-old is set to arrive on the Cobbles as Tyrone Dobbs' mum, Cassie, next week. It will be the second time Claire is part of a dysfunctional soap family as she previously played Lindsey Corkhill in the iconic Liverpool-set show.
It has been 20 years since Brookside ended and Claire told the ECHO and other press how the experience filming the two shows is completely different. She said: "On Brookie, it was a smaller set up so we'd have two shoots running at once.
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"Corrie is bigger and I think there's four or five shoots going on at once. Also I'd never filmed in a TV studio because in Brookside we were in the houses. When I went on to the [Corrie] studio I saw a front room in the middle of a big dark sound stage.
"I was a fan at the moment and I was like 'oh is that how it is?'" Brookside will forever hold a strong place in Claire's heart and she said it was moving to be reunited on stage with former co-stars Dean Sullivan and Sue Jenkins at the British Soap Awards earlier this month.
She said: "It was quite emotional. It was just like we picked up where we left off all those years ago. Although we do stay in touch, but when we walked out to that music it was a little moment for me."
Claire said the moment provided closure as she is now looking forward to the future and leaving her mark on another classic soap. She said: "I also felt like it closed that chapter for me and now it's onto Corrie."
Claire is thrilled to join the long-running ITV soap and received the amazing news she had landed the part on her birthday while on holiday with family in Majorca. The star was taken aback by a striking coincidence as she also bagged the role in Brookside on her birthday in the early 90s.
She said: "I've got two parts in soap operas on my birthday, which is just the best present ever."
Claire underwent a dramatic transformation to play Cassie and she can't wait for viewers to see her in a completely new light. She said: "I'm such a fan and I'm so grateful for this job playing Cassie. It's literally a dream come true."
She added: "Hollywood or Corrie? Give me Corrie any day."
Claire will make her Corrie debut in the episode broadcast on June 28 at 8pm on ITV and ITVX.
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