Brookside and West End star Claire Sweeney joins cast of Coronation Street

Soap and West End star Claire Sweeney says being cast in Coronation Street is "like being cast in a Hollywood movie."

It has been announced the Brookside and Benidorm actress, 52, will take on the role of Cassie, who is the mother of Tyrone Dobbs, played by Alan Halsall.

Tyrone has been told by his grandmother Evelyn Plummer, played by Dame Maureen Lipman, that her daughter and his biological mother Cassie is dead. 

But in June, Cassie will rock up on the cobbles and have to make a decision on whether she comes clean to Tyrone.

The mechanic has grown up believing his mother was Jackie Dobbs, but in 2018 he met Evelyn for the first time and found out her daughter Cassandra was his real mother.

It was revealed in the show that Evelyn abandoned Tyrone at a police station in 1982 because she could not trust Cassandra to care for him properly due to her drug habit.

Tyrone was found by Jackie who brought him up as her own.

Claire, who has been in the showbiz industry for almost 40 years, compared her casting in Coronation Street as like "being cast in a Hollywood movie."

She said: "I’ve watched it all my life and can’t quite believe that I’ll now be stepping onto those famous cobbles myself."

Claire continued to say: "I was really nervous when I got the scripts to audition as this show means so much to me and my family and this is Corrie gold.

"I was beyond thrilled and very grateful when I got the call that Iain MacLeod is trusting me to play Tyrone's Mum and work alongside one of my heroes, Dame Maureen Lipman."

The Liverpool actress, who was first known for her portray as Lindsey Corkill in Brookside before going on to star as Roxy Hart in Chicago, will appear on the show on 28 June.

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