I need to recover after Corrie cancer storyline

CORRIE viewers were deeply moved by the death of character Sinead Osbourne. But for actress Katie McGlynn, it will take more than a few months to get over a storyline that consumed her life for the best part of two years.

Sinead died in October last year from cervical cancer, as the ITV soap aired some of its most harrowing scenes.

Katie, 26, is clearly still affected by such an emotional rollercoaster - she is currently on holiday recovering from an viral illness that led her to collapse while working in panto over Christmas. She told the M.E.N. that this was her body’s way of telling her she needed to take a break.

“I was advised to take a break after doing the Sinead storyline but I didn’t”, she said.

“I just carried on to keep busy because opportunities kept coming up.

“I really wanted to do the panto but that, mixed with being ill and also hitting the gym hard - I was doing too much.

“I feel I have to wash Sinead out of my hair a bit so hopefully I can do that on holiday.

“I think that could be another reason that I got ill, from all the mental stress of that story.” Another way of the actress separating herself from her former on-screen character is getting fit and strong - Katie wowed her followers with her recent body transformation.

“It’s a mental thing,” she revealed. “It’s not about losing weight, it’s about getting strong and feeling like a different person and getting away from the Sinead thing and transforming back to being Katie again.”

Despite the drama of her storyline and her recent illness, Katie is still trying to take in being the only female nominee shortlisted for Serial Drama Performance at this year’s National Television Awards.

She said: “I feel like I have already won because I’m the only female in the category but I also feel the pressure because I need to do it for the girls.”