Coronation Street’s Claire Sweeney is crossing her fingers for a trip down the aisle in Weatherfield, revealing that she’s yet to experience wedding bliss off-screen. Portraying the whirlwind Cassie Plummer, who’s currently smitten with Steve McDonald, Claire gushed about the prospect.
“I’d love us to get married,” she shared with a smile. “I said this to Simon the other day. He went, ‘Oh, not another wedding.’ But I’ve never been married in real life.”
Should Cassie and Steve exchange vows on the ITV favourite, it would be Claire’s second time saying ‘I do’ on television. “I got married once in Brookside,” she reminisced.
Claire Sweeney has opened up about her hopes for a wedding for Cassie Plummer on Coronation Street -Credit:Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
“It would be lovely to have a wedding in Corrie as well. Can you imagine? It would be brilliant!” At 53, Claire’s journey to fame began as Lindsey Corkhill on Brookside in 1991, followed by a dazzling career on the West End stage with hits like Chicago, Legally Blonde, and Guys And Dolls. She’s now nearly two years into her Coronation Street stint as Tyrone Dobbs’ long-lost mum, Cassie – who recently confessed her feelings to Steve.
Away from the cameras, Claire is a proud mum to her 10 year old son Jaxon, whom she shares with former flame Daniel Reilly. The couple parted ways in 2017.
She also enjoyed a brief romance with Dancing On Ice alum and ex-boxing champ Ricky Hatton, but they called it quits after eight months last December. Reflecting on their split, Claire maintained, “I’m great – we’re still friends. We were friends, we dated, and now we’re friends again. It’s all good!” Now, Claire is fully immersed in the drama of Weatherfield, having a blast working alongside Simon Gregson.
Claire Sweeney and Ricky Hatton split in December
Claire gushed about her co-star Si, not holding back on her admiration: “I can’t tell you how much I love working with Si – he’s hysterical,” she exclaims. “He’s a laugh-a-minute, a kind soul. It’s not like going to work. He makes me laugh and I adore him.”
She’s also rooting for her character Cassie’s romance with Steve, sharing how the dynamic changes Cassie entirely: “I’d love Cassie and Steve to end up together. Cassie could be doing some evil stuff, and thinking terrible things – but the minute he comes in, she turns into a giggly teenager. He strips all that away from her and it’s very genuine. They can’t help themselves.”
Claire even confessed that Simon had her “screaming” with laughter during their Valentine’s Day shoot, hinting at more juicy scenes poised to hook fans: “Long may it last, because he’s gorgeous!” She recalls filming, “You know that scene in Pretty Woman when Richard Gere opens the box with the jewellery in it, and then snaps the box closed and she screams and laughs? Si did something like that to me in those scenes. He tickled me or made me jump and I screamed laughing. It’s so natural and genuine, the stuff we do together. I love it because he surprises me.”
Cassie Plummer is currently exploring a romantic spark with Steve – but Ken exposing her poisoning plot could ruin it
Celebrating two years as Corrie’s troubled yet complex Cassie – Evelyn Plummer’s (Maureen Lipman) former drug-addicted daughter – Claire’s clearly over the moon about her stint on the cobbles.
“I love that Cassie isn’t one-dimensional,” she enthuses. “The stuff they’ve written for her has been absolutely brilliant – vulnerability mixed with a streak of evil. I get a lot of comedy lines as well. I love playing her because she’s funny, she’s a bit evil, she’s vulnerable – and she’s an absolute joy to play.”
But it looks like Cassie’s days of mischief on the cobbles are numbered.
After spending months as Ken Barlow’s carer, she’s been secretly slipping him antihistamines to make him dependent on her. The plot thickens as Ken cottons on to the fact he’s being drugged, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown.
Claire reveals she felt a sense of relief when Cassie’s scheming ways were exposed. “She couldn’t have carried on the way she was – it was always going to come to a head,” she reflects.
“Cassie genuinely cares for Ken and it was just to keep him a bit sleepy so he needed her. She went into survival mode – you have to look at her history.”
Delving deeper into Cassie’s past, Claire explains: “She’s had no one to take care of her. She was a prostitute at one point, she’s been abused, her mum didn’t really want to know her. She’s pretty much a survivor and with Ken, it’s not just Ken – it’s a lifestyle.”
