‘Ant and Lisa’s battle is just beginning’
Like Ant, former Corrie star Kevin Kennedy fought a secret battle with drink and drugs. Here, his wife Clare reveals how it affected their relationship
Someone who S knows firsthand what Ant’s wife Lisa will be going through is Clare Kennedy, who’s married to former Coronation Street star Kevin Kennedy – better known as the loveable Curly Watts.
Clare watched Kevin live with a secret alcohol addiction during the height of his TV fame, which saw him drink a small bottle of vodka in the morning before heading on set, then downing booze in his dressing room between filming. He also took cocaine and speed.
Clare admits that her life was “chaos” at the height of his addictions, and the pair split shortly before she teamed up with Corrie bosses in 1998 to send him to rehab. Kevin spent a month in The Priory, after which they slowly started rebuilding their relationship. He hasn’t touched alcohol since his stint, but it was just the start of his recovery.
And although Clare admits that being in the media spotlight can be an extremely pressurised environment, she says it has nothing to do with the issues Ant, who juggles a hectic work schedule, is battling.
Clare says: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a plumber or a film star, anyone can have addiction problems. I always thought someone struggling with alcohol issues was going on huge binges, or living on the street with a bottle in their hands – not someone who could hold down a successful job. But Kevin was a ‘maintenance drinker’ and needed booze every day.”
Clare, 47, says Kevin, 55, was able to keep the extent of his drinking problem a secret for years. She says: “Kev loved a few pints every night – our social life revolved around the pub.
SCREAMING MATCHES
“About three years into our relationship, I took Kev’s car to be serviced and the mechanic handed me a bag of empty vodka bottles he’d found under the seats. Kev swore they weren’t his and I chose to believe him because I didn’t want to think I was married to an alcoholic. But after that, every time he told me he was too tired to go out, I realised he was drunk already.
“For two years I kept making empty threats, saying I would leave him unless he stopped drinking, but I loved him and always stayed. He kept trying to quit, but would always fall off the wagon and we’d have huge screaming matches about it.”
Clare eventually left Kevin and, two weeks later, she got a call from Corrie bosses saying he had failed to turn up after a drinking binge. They agreed to pay for Kevin’s admittance into rehab and the pair – who are now parents to Katy May, 13, and Grace, 11 (who they had through IVF) – reconciled shortly afterwards.
Clare, who has since trained as an addict counsellor, says: “In the long run, getting someone to stop drinking and taking drugs is the easy bit. Ant’s addiction will have been such a big part of their lives that they’ll need to come up with a whole new coping strategy for the future. Lisa will need loved ones around her, especially as the media have said Ant’s problems are partly due to their fertility struggles.”
FERTILITY PROBLEMS
She adds: “Kevin and I went to a fertility expert when we were both drinking too much and were told we needed to cut down substantially if we were to conceive – but we carried on drinking. That’s how much it alters your thinking. It was only five years after we both gave up that we were told our chances of conceiving had dramatically increased.
“But if Ant is an addict, it wouldn’t matter if they
were having fertility
problems or not – he would still have faced these issues. In rehab, Ant won’t have any distractions, which will allow him to focus on getting better. After he comes out, he’ll need to steer clear of temptation.
“Ant and Lisa’s battle is just beginning – but getting help is a step in the right direction.”
By Deborah Fraser
Clare and Kevin run charity Kennedy Street to help recovering addicts. See Kennedystreetcic.co.uk for more information
❛I chose to believe his Lies because I didn’t want to think I was married to An Alcoholic❜