Coronation Street has been rocked by a new arrival and they're already pulling in the praise. Claire Sweeney made her debut in the ITV soap this week playing newcomer Cassandra Plummer. Her casting was revealed back in April and made her first appearance this week as Tyrone Dobbs' real mum and the daughter of Evelyn Plummer.
Cassie tracked down her mum to the street but when Evelyn spotted her, she ignored her. But later, Evelyn received a call and was seen hurrying into A&E reception, explaining that her daughter has been admitted as an emergency after she overdosed.
The pair then entered into an emotional confrontation as Cassie revealed she knows that she was living with Tyrone and had been keeping him from her for all these years. And things reached a heartbreaking climax when Evelyn emotionally confessed that Tyrone thinks his mum is dead.
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Later, after quizzing Abi Webster on her sobriety, Evelyn called at the hospital only to discover Cassie had discharged herself. Evelyn then returned home only to be met by Tyrone who revealed that someone called Cath has come to see her. However, Evelyn entered the living room and was horrified to see Cassie grinning at her from the sofa. And when Tyrone enquired about how they knew each other, Evelyn panicked.
Before making her on-screen debut, Claire, who shot to fame playing Lindsey Corkhill in the Scouse soap, shared how it was her dream to star in Corrie nd shared how ‘reality struck’ about her return to the small screen when she arrived at the Salford-based set.
"The funny thing is, having done the audition from the safety of my bedroom, reading with my mate, I felt really safe," she told the Manchester Evening News. "I wasn’t nervous or anything but then to suddenly turn up at Coronation Street and I walked in and I saw the cobbles and my stomach [flipped].
"I suddenly got this flip in my stomach and I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s Coronation Street. It’s real!’ You go in the building and the first thing you see is a massive picture of Ena Sharples and it suddenly hit me, the reality of it. I’m a massive Corrie fan, I’ve grown up watching Corrie. It’s been a part of our household since I was a kid and to suddenly be there and see it, reality struck home."
And during her first few appearances on Corrie, Claire stunned fans with her drastically different look. As she appeared on-screen for the first time as drug addict Cassie, @Bob71136804) summed up the transformation. as he said: "Blimey is that Claire Sweeney? She’s looked better." @Samanth22356123 tweeted: "Seems weird seeing Claire Sweeney not all glammed up!!!" @teenamassam added: "Claire Sweeney is usually so glamorous… #Corrie."
But Claire, jokingly, told us she found the change for her role 'traumatic'. "It wasn't much, that's how I wake up in a morning," the star laughed when asked how long it takes to become Cassie and how much she has been involved in the makeup and costume side of her new character.
"I had a flare-up of my skin... I was tired, I was a bit stressed because of one thing and another and Janita who has done my makeup, she is wonderful, she was putting blue on my face and purple and pink and she was kind of following my rosacea then the dark under the eyes. They've done a fantastic my job," Claire added.
"And with my hair, she oiled it down and sprayed black on the roots. Also, I had to get my nails off. Being a scouse and getting my nails and lashes off, that's quite traumatic you know, " she said with a laugh.
While we may be now starting to find out more about Cassie, we thought we'd look at what we know about the actress behind the Weatherfield's newest face. Claire was born in Walton, Liverpool and trained at the Elliott-Clarke Theatre School in the city and worked at weekends in her father's butchers shop.
Her first singing gig was at the age of 14 in the Montrose Club in Liverpool, for which she was paid £25 and she was then educated full-time at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London. She landed her first major role in Brookside, initially as a recurring character from 1991 and then as a leading character from 1995 until the programme ended in 2003.
And from then on her career went from strength to strength, getting a few more TV appearances under her belt, both as an actress and as a presenter, while also carving out a successful theatre career starring in the likes of Guys and Dolls, Legally Blonde, Educating Rita and numerous pantomimes.
Away from her career, 52-year-old Claire is a doting single mum to her son, Jaxon. The eight-year-old has largely been kept out of the limelight by his mum but recently appeared in a photoshoot with her for OK! Magazine. "He just makes me laugh so much," Claire told the publication. "He gives me so much affection and love. He’s such a sensitive kid."
Claire split from Jaxon’s dad Daniel Reilly in 2015. The pair had become engaged on Christmas Eve in 2012, with Daniel, who is 14 years Claire's junior presenting the soap star with a three-carat diamond ring in a romantic proposal. But they sadly split just nine months after the birth of their first child.
Claire and Daniel said at the time: "Whilst we have decided not to remain together we are committed to bringing up our wonderful son and making sure we are great parents and supporting each other to achieve that."
And Claire only appears to be ready now to potentially find love again. In an interview with OK magazine, she revealed: "I’m open to dating but at the moment I’m so busy with Jaxon and Corrie and everything else. If I met someone amazing then that would be lovely but it’s out of my hands."
Claire lives with Jaxon in Liverpool after purchasing the luxury pad when she was in Brookside. The living room, which boasts stunning city and waterside views, is immaculately decorated and the white walls are broken up with some decorative purple and gold wallpaper with a deep purple corner sofa in addition to some lavish purple curtains.
The home also has high ceilings, white and exposed brickwork while the bedroom features a high 7ft bed. And as a proud Liverpudlian, Claire's home pays homage to the city and she even owns a special piece of decor in tribute to her home. "Another one of my favourite things in here is my lamb banana," she told OK! when inviting them into her home. "It's a landmark in Liverpool that's all over the city. "
And whilst Claire at one point had a glittering career on stage after her time on TV, it's not always been such heady heights of stardom, according to the Mirror. The star has also found herself needing to find cash quickly, as she did in 2021 when she made less than £5000 last year after her income was 'decimated'.
With lockdown blocking her from her usual performing slots on stage and on screen, Claire saw her income change dramatically and was left living on the income from selling her Mallorca villa in 2019. In an interview with The Sunday Times, she was exactly how much she earned in 2021. She said: "Under £5,000. Our industry was decimated. Thankfully I'd sold a house in Spain, in 2019, so I was blessed that I could sit it out comfortably.
"It was a big house in Mallorca that I'd bought in 2004 for €690,000 (£580,000). It broke my heart to sell but it was on its own grounds, and my little boy didn't want that - he wanted to be with other kids."
