Coronation Street STAR JAMES BURROWS WELCOMES HIS FIRST CHILD, DAUGHTER BETTY
‘CORONATION STREET’ STAR JAMES BURROWS AND HIS GIRLFRIEND SOPHIE COATES TELL ok!’s KIRSTY HATCHER ABOUT THEIR DAUGHTER’S ARRIVAL
When OK! arrives at our exclusive shoot with Coronation Street actor James Burrows and his girlfriend Sophie Coates, the couple are doting on their adorable new arrival. The blissful scene is a far cry from Betty Florence Burrows’ arrival on April 25 – 46 hours after her parents arrived at the Royal Derby Hospital. Sophie, 30, was induced due to suffering pre-eclampsia, and, following the birth, doctors discovered that Betty, who weighed 6lb
3oz, had an infection and the pair were kept in hospital for ten days.
‘It was quite a stressful time. I just wanted to get them both home,’ says James. Since the birth, the actor has been juggling first-time fatherhood with a two-hour commute to the cobbles in Manchester, where he plays Dr Ali Neeson, and running his landscape gardening company. ‘It’s been really full on at the moment,’ says the star,
27, who lives in Derby. But he adds of becoming a dad for the first time: ‘It was the best moment of my life when she arrived.’
Here, James and Sophie, a tour consultant who organises school trips abroad, exclusively open up to OK! about Betty’s long-awaited arrival, and why there’s no crisis at Corrie...
Congratulations to you both! Tell us about choosing Betty’s name…
James: We had one name for a while and then we started talking about old-fashioned names. We mentioned Betty and we both just looked at each other and said: ‘Yes, that’s the one!’ It’s unusual.
Sophie: We thought it was really cool. I was thinking if someone else called their child Betty I would be really jealous!
What was the other name?
James: Brooke. But we preferred Betty in the end.
Was that after your co-star Brooke Vincent? James: [Laughs] I did tell her, actually – she thought I was joking at first! I don’t think she’s disappointed.
Tell us about the birth…
Sophie: She arrived a week early. Towards the end of my pregnancy I got pre-eclampsia so I was induced in the end. I was in and out of hospital from 30 weeks anyway, as they were checking me for high blood pressure, and then the final time I went in they told me it had developed into preeclampsia. I was told to come back the following day at 6pm. Pre-eclampsia affects the function of
the placenta so if that stops working properly it affects the baby’s growth, so it was safe to induce me.
What happened next?
Sophie: I was induced with a hormone drip. It was 46 hours in total. It was very intense.
Did you have any pain relief, Sophie?
Gas and air. I didn’t want an epidural but it was so painful I asked for one, but it didn’t work. It’s a bit of a blur. It was basically 46 hours of torture. James: It was tough. Obviously it was worse for Sophie, but it was hard for me and her mum, who was also in the delivery room, because there isn’t a lot you can do apart from tell her you love her. But Sophie was incredible. It was the best moment of my life when she arrived. I can’t really put it into words. I just remember crying and looking at her. I fell in love straight away. I remember ringing my mum to tell her and I couldn’t get my words out.
Sophie: I didn’t cry. I’d been watching One Born Every Minute and when the mum didn’t cry I thought it was weird. Then my own arrived and I didn’t! I think you’ve been through so much, and after 46 hours I just felt relief. Did you take anything for the preeclampsia?
They gave me medication to keep my blood pressure stable. It’s gone now. After she was born we were in hospital for ten days because she contracted an infection during the labour.
What infection did she have?
Strep B [streptococcal bacteria]. I was a bit worried because I’d heard of it but I didn’t think she’d get it [babies getting infected in labour affects about 1 in 1,750 pregnancies].
How did you find out she had it?
They had to keep me in because of the preeclampsia so they were monitoring both of us. So if I hadn’t had pre-eclampsia we’d have gone home and they wouldn’t have picked it up. It was actually a blessing in disguise.
James: It was quite a stressful time. I just wanted to get them both home.
Sophie: It was horrible. She was on antibiotics for ten days, then we came home. I stayed there the whole time and she was next to me so I could get to know her.
Did you feel like you couldn’t bond with Betty as much as you wanted to, James? Yes, not as much as Sophie did. I was there every day but Sophie bonded with her better. I could only visit for three or four hours, which was hard. I would be there until midnight then I’d have to go home to get four or five hours sleep before work. As well as Corrie I run a landscape gardening company and I had some things to catch up on, so I didn’t have as much time with the girls as I wanted. But now we’ve got an amazing bond and it’s just great.
‘It’s amazing how naturally It comes’
Was it emotional finally getting Betty home? Sophie: Yes, especially as we’d been in hospital for two weeks. It was a massive relief. She’s doing really well now. She’s a bit small for her age but she’s growing really fast.
Have you found being new parents tough? Sophie: Yeah, it’s really stressful. We didn’t know what to expect. It’s emotional. It’s a roller coaster but it’s completely worth it.
Have you suffered any baby blues, Sophie? Yeah, for the first couple of weeks. I think it’s your hormones because you’re up and down all the time, but now she’s nine weeks old we’ve settled into a routine and everything has calmed down. James has been supportive. He’s taken to it really well.
James: I’ve done my best! It’s hard for everyone and a shock. The baby’s getting used to you, too. I’ve worked out how to settle her when she’s going crazy. It’s amazing how naturally it comes.
Who has been doing the night feeds? Sophie: We share it. When James is filming I do most of it because he has to be up early. James: At first I was getting up every time she was ready for a feed. But we live in Derby and the studios are in Manchester so I commute and I have to be up at 5am and be at the studio for 7am, then film for eight hours and drive back. Sophie told me to stop getting up in the night and that she would do the night
feeds. She has been amazing. But when I’m not working we take it in turns.
What’s it like when James is at work, Sophie? It’s actually been okay as she sleeps a lot in the day. Don’t get me wrong, she does have days where she doesn’t stop crying all day and that does stress me out, but really she’s quite good.
You said you hadn’t enjoyed the changes to your body throughout pregnancy, Sophie. How are you feeling now?
Much better. I didn’t really enjoy being pregnant. It’s a relief she’s here and I feel like I’m getting back to being myself. I’m happy my bump has gone. Just being able to bend down and do normal things is great! Straight after the birth I said absolutely not to having more children, but we’ll have at least another one and then see how it goes.
James: We both said no more at first, but then you get in the swing of things. I don’t like to jinx the future but hopefully we’ll give her a little brother or sister.
Have you had any gifts from your co-stars? James: They’ve sent us a big bouquet of flowers, which was lovely. Coronation Street were really good in the lead up to the birth because Sophie was in hospital a few times because of the pre-eclampsia and they were just like: ‘Go! Don’t worry about the scenes!’
Has Kym Marsh, who plays your on-screen mum Michelle Connor, met Betty?
Not yet but they’ve invited us over in a few weeks. She’s happy for me. We’re close and I’ve met her grandson, Teddy. Kym’s in love with him.
There have been reports of a ‘crisis at
Corrie’ as seven cast members have announced they’re leaving this year… I don’t think it’s a crisis. I think it’s been blown out of proportion. Kym wants to do some different stuff and it’s not for everyone to want to stay there forever. Poor old Iain [Macleod], our producer, is an amazing person and he’s very fair. If someone wants to leave it’s up to them. I don’t think it’s got much to do with the show itself. If you get a new opportunity then fair play to the people who want to move on and do some other stuff, I wish them all the best. It’s just a coincidence that a few people are going at the same time. The main characters are still there really, and it’s good to bring in new characters. As actors you never know what the future holds. I’m really happy at Corrie at the minute, though.
What’s next for your character Ali?
All I can say is, I’ve just started a huge storyline. It’s typical, I’ve been really quiet and then as soon as I have a baby I get really busy!