Katie McGlynn has been inundated with support from fans as she recalled the death of her grandad for an important campaign. The former Coronation Street star appeared spoke to Lorraine Kelly on her ITV show on Thursday (June 9) as she shares her support for charity, Prostate Cancer UK.
The actress, who is best known for playing Sinead Tinker on the cobbles, revealed how her own family have been affected by the disease, with her beloved grandad dying two weeks before she was given an audition for the ITV soap.
"It's so bizarre because when I tell the story, I feel like people thing I'm making it up," Katie told host Lorraine as she joined Dr Hilary Jones in the studio. "I'd go to see him every Thursday for my tea, I was always there and we'd watch Coronation Street, Emmerdale, everything," the 28-year-old recalled.
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"He'd always sit thee and go, 'When are you going to get on Corrie, Katie?' and I was like... I thought I'd made it being on Waterloo Road. I was so happy." She shared how she'd ask her grandad if the BBC One school-based drama 'wasn't good enough' to which he told her: "It's alright but you need to get on Corrie!"
Katie, who played Jodie "Scout" Allen in Waterloo Road in series seven, continued: "Sadly, I left Waterloo Road in September and I did a pantomime and he passed away just before his 70 th birthday in February." She added: "Not lying, two weeks after, I got the audition for Coronation Street, the very first audition that I had.
"And then, seven years later, I had the opportunity to do a story on cancer and I was adamant I wanted to do the full story because it meant a lot to me." But Katie admitted that if it wasn’t for her grandad, she wouldn’t be able to raise awareness of the disease. or maybe have the career she has now.
"He was the driving force of my career," Katie, who recently had a role on Hollyoaks while also appearing in Strictly Come Dancing, said. "He took me to my drama classes every week."
She also spoke about how her grandad, Denis, ignored his symptoms. "He had issues going to the toilet in the night and he just didn’t say anything. He did have a lot of pain in his bones, so we thought it was arthritis, so we kept taking him to the doctor, and the doctor was adamant it was arthritis."
Prostate cancer currently no screening programme in the UK. "I was shocked to hear it is the most common cancer that doesn’t have an effective screening cancer," Katie added. "We want to raise awareness about it, get men talking, get women talking and families and push these men to be aware of the risks and know their bodies so they can try and do something about it."
Katie has joined Prostate Cancer UK's 'The Sit Down' campaign and shared her own story alongside TV presenter Jenny Powell and former Love Island star Arabella Chi. Sharing a clip recorded for the charity of her talking about Denis, Katie wrote on Instagram: "Thank you @prostatecanceruk for allowing us to share our stories on #TheSitDown.
"Please click the link in my story/bio to watch the full episode with myself, @jennypowelltv and @arabellachi - where we all talk candidly about our personal experiences with Prostate Cancer and how it affected us and our families!" She then emotionally added: "This one’s for you, Grandad."
And fans were quick to praise Katie for her work. @potterphilip82 said: "Well done your grandad will be so proud." @loveforkatiex commented: "He would be so proud of you Katie." @leejames7928 wrote: "Well done Katie, using your position to help others … keep up the good work." Jenny, who appeared in the video, also replied: "We shared it all that day. So proud of us and love you Katie, you bloody star."
