Claire Sweeney was "so nervous" to join 'Coronation Street.'

Claire Sweeney has joined Coronation Street

Claire Sweeney has joined Coronation Street

The 52-year-old actress - who shot to fame when she took on the part of Lindsey Corkhill on 'Brookside in the early 1990s - has now joined the cast of the long-running ITV1 soap opera as the long-lost mother of established character Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) and claimed that stepping onto the cobbles was "better" than being in a Hollywood movie.

She said: "Even though I’ve been lucky enough to have enjoyed an amazingly varied career for nearly 40 years - being cast in 'Coronation Street' is, to me, better than being cast in a Hollywood movie! I’ve watched it all my life and can’t quite believe that I’ll now be stepping onto those famous cobbles myself.

"I was really nervous when I got the scripts to audition as this show means so much to me and my family and this is 'Corrie' gold, I was beyond thrilled and very grateful when I got the call that Iain MacLeod is trusting me to play Tyrone's mum and work alongside one of my heroes, Dame Maureen Lipman. Cassie is a character who is definitely going to make an impact - I just hope the audience will enjoy watching her as much as I'm going to be enjoying playing her!"

In the show, Tyrone grew up believing that his mum was Jackie Dobbs - who was played by Margi Clarke and famously shared a prison cell with legendary character Deirdre Barlow in 1998 - but in 2018 discovered after meeting his biological grandmother Evelyn (Maureen Lipman) that he had in fact been abandoned by drug addict Cassie outside of a police station shortly after his birth in 1982.

The former ‘Loose Women’ panellist - who since appearing on the first edition of 'Celebrity Big Brother' in 2001 has held leading roles in West End productions of 'Chicago' and 'Guys and Dolls' and has also appeared in touring versions of hit shows such as 'Legally Blonde', 'Hairspray' and Dolly Parton's '9 to 5' - will make her first appearance on 'Coronation Street' on June 28 and producer Iain McLeod teased that her first scenes will there is a “tumultuous time” ahead for the family.

He said: "Claire bowled us over in her audition and the scenes with her, Tyrone, and Evelyn will be electric. Her arrival will mark the start of a tumultuous time for Tyrone and the family and her impact will be felt across the street in the weeks and months that follow."

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