“I’m very proud and honoured to be part of such a magnificent charity!”
Antony Cotton tells us why he’s delighted to be fronting SSAFA’S The Big Brew Up event…
Me and Sue Nicholls are just off salsa dancing!” actor Antony Cotton tells us, as he natters to Inside Soap over the phone direct from the Corrie green room. “She’s dancing in front of me right now – we love a bit of Latin, don’t we, Sue? That would make a great Corrie plot – Sean and Audrey go salsa dancing together, with two dubious Hispanic boys!”
That’s certainly a scene Inside Soap would love to see – and judging by the cheers we can hear from Sue in the background, we think she’d be up for it, too! But salsa dancing aside, Antony has called us today to chat about something much closer to his heart, as he explains why he’s getting involved with this year’s The Big Brew Up, and helping to raise funds for armed forces charity SSAFA – formerly known as the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association…
“The Big Brew Up has become a thing that I do every year now,” reveals the star. “Basically it’s to encourage people to have a cup of tea and a slice of cake with your friends, shake a tin and donate some money. If you have a cake and coffee morning at your local WI, or at the golf club, or at work, why not raise some funds at the same time?
“It’s also symbolic because when you have a brew, you tend to sit down and have a chat as well,” continues Antony. “And a lot of the SSAFA stuff that I’ve been involved with is about talking – there’s many people who just bottle things up, and ultimately that can make their problems much worse.”
Antony explains that he first got involved with SSAFA because so many of his friends are either serving in, or are veterans of, the armed forces. But while he was happy to don a uniform for the promotional photographs for The Big Brew Up, he reckons it’s set to cause ructions with his mates.
“I’m actually dressed in an RAF uniform, so I’m sure that I’ll have the mickey taken out of me by all my Army friends,” he chuckles. “There’s huge rivalry between the forces – as well as between the various regiments – so
I’m fully prepared for what my friends will have to say about that! It was a really strange feeling putting it on, but the pictures look brilliant. I’m massively proud and honoured to be part of such a magnificent charity.”
“A lot of the SSAFA’S work is about talking – many people bottle things up”
At least Antony can rely on his Corrie pals to get behind him, as he’ll be holding a Big Brew Up event on set in the coming weeks. The actor is in his 14th year on the cobbles – and says there’s nowhere he’d rather be than behind the bar at the Rovers Return.
“I love working in both the pub and the factory, but the Rovers has to be my favourite,” he admits. “The point of Sean being in the pub was for him to be centre stage, so he’s a part of everybody’s stories. And the Rovers is the most famous pub in the world!”
Antony counts cast mates Jennie Mcalpine (Fiz), Catherine Tyldesley (Eva) and Brooke Vincent (Sophie) among his best mates. But thanks to the advice of another famous friend, he plans to stay in Weatherfield for as long as he can.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it!” he advises. “This is a bit of a name-drop, but before Joan Rivers died, I brought her on to the set – and afterwards she said, ‘You must never leave that show!’.
“She used the example of Will Smith and The Fresh Prince Of Bel-air – even though he became a movie star, he still went back and filmed that show, because he never forgot where he came from. Obviously I don’t know what the future holds, but that advice resonated with me – and I’ll remember it till I die.”