Coronation Street star Simon Gregson was quizzed in the back of a police van after a bust-up in a Toby Carvery pub opposite the Grand National racecourse.
Our exclusive picture shows the actor being spoken to by officers after enjoying hospitality with other celebrities at Aintree Ladies Day on Friday. He had been photographed drinking Guinness in one of the famous course’s luxury suites earlier in the day.
The incident came just days after it emerged Gregson, 47, was reportedly asked to leave a club at co-star Alexandra Mardell’s leaving do when he took his shirt off and danced on furniture, hurling abuse at staff.
Police yesterday confirmed they were investigating a reported “altercation” between two men at The Rocking Horse, a Toby Carvery, on Friday night.
A source told us: “There was a bust-up and bouncers kicked him out – they pinned him to the ground before the police arrived. He was taken to the police van and spoken to for some time. It was all very messy.”
Hours earlier the much-loved star, who earns £150,000 a year playing Steve McDonald in the ITV soap, happily posed for pictures with Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall, 40, and her ex-England rugby captain husband Mike, 43, during his day at the races
Gregson also looked delighted as he rubbed shoulders with ex-footballer Dion Dublin, 52, comedian Jason Manford, 40, and Olympic heptathlete Kelly Sotherton, 45. But the smile had vanished by the time officers were called to the pub, which offers all day roast dinners with unlimited sides for £7.49.
A police spokesman said: “We can confirm Merseyside Police were in attendance at the Rocking Horse pub on Grand National Avenue, Aintree.
“At around 9.20pm we received a report two men were involved in an altercation inside the pub. No injuries were reported and the victim declined to make a formal complaint to police. Inquiries are ongoing.”
Gregson, who grew up in Stockport, first joined the Corrie in 1989.
He has played hapless taxi boss Steve for three decades and won a string of gongs. He is said to be worth an estimated £1million.
He has previously told how the pressures of being catapulted to fame as a teen in the ITV soap saw him turn to booze and drugs.
He said benders in the nineties left him so wasted he would regularly show up late for filming – or not turn up at all. Speaking to the Mirror in 2014, he recalled: “Me and my mates would get dangerously drunk. We were really stupid. I went completely wild. I’d pay for everyone to stay in hotel suites.
“I’d go through a bottle of Scotch at 4 or 5am after the pub. I was spending all my salary going out or on cars.
“Sometimes I’d be two hours late for work. Other times I’d not be there at all. I didn’t take it seriously and I didn’t want to be there.
“I hated being famous. I’m not proud of my behaviour, but getting wasted was a way of forgetting.”
He added: “The cocaine use came hand in hand with the alcohol abuse. I started smoking marijuana first.”
“Reality wasn’t too great so this alternative reality with the use of substances was a better place to be. It was an experimentation at first and I could afford it.”
The star admitted he was “drinking to forget” and he received a drink-drive ban in 2007, adding: “I didn’t like being famous. I didn’t like what came with it.” In January 2020 he shocked fans by vowing to continue boozing despite previous struggles.
He wrote online: “I’ve now decided after years of drinking and making a fool
of myself plus of course the health implications of such debauchery, I’m gonna carry on.”
And four months later he posted an expletive-filled rant in defence of Dominic Cummings for breaking lockdown rules – later revealing he had been drunk at the time.
“Well sober me has no idea what drunk me was going on about,” he tweeted. “Time to maybe step away from the phone.”
Fans suspected Simon was “still drunk” during a dishevelled TV appearance after the final of last year’s I’m A Celeb, where he was runner-up.
The soap star looked off camera and shouted “weirdos” and “love you” while answering questions from This Morning hosts Vernon Kay and Josie Gibson.
He has been married to former Hollyoaks actress Emma Gleave, 38, since 2010 and the couple have three sons together.
She admitted there had been difficult times in their relationship in an Instagram post to mark their 10th wedding anniversary.
She wrote: “A journey filled with major ups, major downs and everything else in between! We always get back up though Si.”
Simon Gregson was approached for comment.
