ICE QUEEN ON
Claire Sweeney doesn’t mind being busy. She’s currently living in London with her nine-yearold son, filming Coronation Street in Manchester and practising for Dancing on Ice whenever she can.
“I’m juggling so much,” she jokes. “I’ll be on the way to work wondering if I’m going to the Rovers or the rink!”
Some days, it’s both. It’s a schedule made harder by the fact she also suffered a fall before her show-stopping Roman-style chariot entrance on last week’s ice show, meaning that her pro partner Colin Grafton is having to keep an eye on her.
“I suffered a shoulder injury as a result of falling on my knees,” explains Claire. “The physio had to teach Colin how to pull my shoulders back to correct my posture to prevent further injury.”
Since starring as Lindsay Corkhill on Brookside, the 52-year-old has mostly been on an upward trajectory – including landing a spot on Corrie last year as Cassie Plummer, the troubled drug addict mum of Tyrone Dobbs.
Channel 4’s Brookside will always run deep in her veins. So when
Dean Sullivan, who played her on-screen dad Jimmy, died aged
68 from prostate cancer in November, she was devastated. “I thought he was in remission,”
Claire recalls. “I’m proud he was open about his cancer and helped raise awareness.
“But for him to go, and so quick... He was taken too young. He was Jimmy Corkhill – he had always been invincible to me. He was a force of nature. He was iconic. A legend.”
Claire was 20 when she joined the Liverpool-based Phil Redmond soap in 1991. It was the first soap to tackle hardhitting issues such as addiction.
“I was a fan before I started, then suddenly Jimmy Corkhill was my dad!” she raves. “He taught me everything. I’m so grateful. We spent a lot of time together.”
Over the years, the cast stayed in touch
– especially
Claire and
Dean. “We both loved Barbra
Streisand and he would come over to my house and we would talk about theatre,” she said. “We both loved theatre.” At last June’s British Soap Awards, the Corkhill family was reunited to present the Best Family Award. “Coming out on stage as a family one last time was so special,” she says. “Everyone cheered as they played our music. We went for drinks afterwards. Being back together was so