WILL JOHNNY’S LIE BE EXPOSED?

Johnny Connor’s secret illness will test his relationships to the limit, says Coronation Street’s Richard Hawley

Factory boss Johnny Connor’s world caved in last week on Coronation Street when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and called off his wedding to Jenny Bradley, lying to his fiancée that he no longer loved her.

To prepare for the storyline, Richard Hawley, who plays Johnny, met MS sufferers and says Johnny’s reaction is common. ‘Part of his reasoning is that he doesn’t want to be a burden or for Jenny to be his carer for the rest of his life, and he thinks he’s protecting her because he loves her,’ says the actor. ‘One man with MS told me how hard it was for him to admit vulnerability and accept help. Others said they pretend everything’s OK; Johnny’s putting on a show and wanting to feel OK when he isn’t.’

Johnny was forced to confess his illness to his daughter Kate, who’d twigged he wasn’t well, but he’s sworn her to secrecy and the pair keep it from everyone else. ‘It puts a huge burden on her,’ says Richard, 61.

MS, which can cause serious disability, affects 100,000 people in the UK. Symptoms can include fatigue and problems with vision, co-ordination and decision-making. Viewers have seen Johnny falling over as the debilitating neurological condition has taken hold. But as well as the physical changes MS causes, Richard says it attacks Johnny’s ‘sense of identity as a strong businessman’.

Jenny has revelled in the fact she was marrying her wealthy boss, so how will the diagnosis change their relationship when she does find out? ‘One woman with MS told me about how she felt ugly and unsexy, but then realised her husband loved everything about her, not just the exterior stuff.

Johnny will wonder whether Jenny loves him or what he stands for.’

Although there’s no cure for MS, symptoms are often treatable and the average life expectancy of sufferers is only slightly reduced, so this is not an exit storyline. ‘The way forward is not to let MS stop you living your life,’ Richard says. ‘Carry on. Go to work. Get married. Do what you were going to do anyway. But anything like this is a knock on mortality’s door, and Johnny has to be changed by it.’

The suggestion that the character

will be around for some time is borne out by the fact that Richard, who’s married with two grown-up daughters, is setting up a more permanent home near where Corrie is filmed. He currently shares a flat in Salford with Connor McIntyre, who plays evil Pat Phelan in the soap. ‘It’s great living in Salford Quays but I want to go into the countryside,’ he says. ‘My wife lives in Brighton but she’ll come up more often with our dogs and we’ll have a proper home here.’