10 Facts About… Simon Gregson (Coronation Street’s Steve)
YOUR lnsideSoap BRIEFING ON THE MAN BEHIND CORRIE’S STEVE…
1 Simon Gregson was born as Simon Alan Gregory on 2 October 1974 in Wythenshawe, Manchester. He comes from a non-theatrical background, with his father a policeman and his mother a bank clerk. Simon changed his surname to Gregson after joining Equity, the British Actors Union, and finding there was already an actor called Simon Gregory.
2 Simon attended Kingsway Secondary School in Cheadle, where classmate Nicholas Cochrane was selected to play Corrie’s Andy Mcdonald. ITV wanted another class member to play Andy’s brother Steve, and Simon was selected, as he resembled Nicholas the most. Simon hadn’t planned to go into acting – “I wanted to be in the RAF and I wanted to race cars,” he admitted later. “But Corrie asked for two sons to be in the show!”
3 Simon watched a lot of comedy while growing up, and he admires the great Billy Connolly and Eddie Murphy. He claims that as a youngster, “I just wanted to make people laugh” and that he inherited a lot of humour from his mum, who’s “completely insane”! He’s even done stand-up comedy and as of 2018, he’s won the Inside Soap Award for Funniest Male three times!
4 Simon first appeared as Steve Mcdonald on 6 December 1989. He’s still there nearly 30 years later, and has had five wives over the years! “Would I call him a ladies’ man?” wondered Simon. “He used to be, before he got fat and bald!” Steve’s biggest storylines include his on-off romance with Tracy, the set-up of Street Cars, buying the Rovers, and suffering with depression.
5 If Simon’s not on the Corrie set, he might be found playing the video game Call Of Duty. Every year his wife buys him the latest release of the game. “Of course WWII was terrifying – but there’s also a romance about it,” he reckons. “The game has got more advanced – and the graphics have just got better and better too.”
6 Simon met his wife, Emma Gleave, in 2005 after being introduced by a mutual friend – his on-screen mum, Beverley
Callard (Liz)! Simon proposed to Emma after just six weeks of knowing her. “She brought a lot more laughter into my life,” he said. “She’s someone you could rely on.” They married in November 2010, and they have three sons, 11-year-old Alfie, Harry, aged nine, and Henry Teddy, who’s two.
7 Back in the 1990s, Simon struggled with alcohol and drug abuse. He was also charged with traffic offences and as a result, he was written out of Corrie for a year. “I went completely wild,” he admitted in 2014. “Sometimes I’d be two hours late for work. Other times I’d not be there at all. I didn’t take it seriously. I hated being famous.” Simon later returned to work after attending rehab.
8 Simon is such good pals with co-star Beverley Callard that the pair even sing together with his band, Johnny Mac and The Muppets! Back in 2006, the rockers performed in pubs around the Salford area, and Bev – who used to own a boozer in Eccles – would often join Simon on lead vocals. In 2010, the tuneful twosome were at it again, singing Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine for ITV’S An Audience With Coronation Street!
9 There have been a few dogs on Corrie over the years – Monica, Schmeichel, Ozzy… and now, Rover! In 2015 the producers decided that they wanted Steve to have a dog, so Simon suggested using his own pet – a little Jack Russell called Cookie. “She did a screen-test,” says Simon. “We came into the studio and they asked us to do a couple of moves, to see if she’d jump on the settee. They loved her! And so she got the part!”
10 Earlier this year, Simon took part in W’s reality series Celebrity Haunted Mansion, alongside Jorgie Porter (Hollyoaks’ Theresa Mcqueen), Alison Hammond and Katie Price.
While in the ‘haunted’ chapel, Simon claimed that he felt some very spooky goings-on. “Did something just hit me?” he asked the rest of the group. “Something had my arm!” We might never know if he really did encounter some ghosties and ghoulies – but Simon still went on to win the series!