Coronation Street Antony Cotton's life with famous family as he makes 'lucky' show exit admission

Antony Cotton is one of Coronation Street's most popular figures. The actor arrived on the Cobbles as Sean Tully for the first time in 2003.

The character was embraced into Eileen Grimshaw's family when he became the first male machinist at Underworld and has been a mainstay in Weatherfield ever since. Sean has been at the centre of drama throughout his time on the ITV show as one of his biggest storylines came when he agreed to impregnate Violet Wilson.

This was under the condition that Sean wouldn't play a part in the child's upbringing, but he backtracked on the agreement when Dylan was born. Dylan has returned to the Cobbles and Sean's stories now largely centre on his attempts to keep his onscreen son on the right path.

It was a big week for Antony away from the screen as he celebrated his 49th birthday. His onscreen son, played by Liam McCheyne, was one of the many people to send their well-wishes.

He said: "Wishing a very happy birthday to @antonycotton. Thank you for everything you've done for me. For being my first mentor in this industry. I owe you a lot. Hope you have a great day!!"

Sean's importance to Corrie shows no signs of waning and Antony has previously told the ECHO why he loves being apart of the soap that will always resonate with its audience. He said: "We have a perfect mix of what television drama needs. The lightness and darkness are mixed together and packaged in a way that makes us accessible and understandable to an audience.

"That's the key to Coronation Street. Our stories pull at your heartstrings and they make you laugh and scream at the screen with a clenched fist when somebody does something wrong. Coronation Street has always managed to tie those elements together."

Antony spoke to our sister site the Daily Star when he signed a contract extension in 2021 and said he harbours no plans of leaving. He said: "Corrie is like a giant family. It feels nice to go to work with people that you know and love. I’ve known a lot of them for the past 18 years. I adore people there like they’re my own family.

“For the past 19 years, I’ve never wanted to say goodbye to that.” Antony marked 21 years on the show this year and explained to the Mirror how he still feels exactly the same way and admitted he has no plans of exiting the iconic role anytime soon.

He told our sister site: "I’m just thanking every heartbeat as it comes along. I’m very happy, very lucky. I do remember my first day on Corrie... as if it was yesterday. But I wasn’t nervous, it felt like coming home because I knew so many people who had been in and out.

“Suranne Jones [who played Karen McDonald] was there, Sally Lindsay [who played Shelley Unwin] was there. I knew some of the writing team, you know, I asked for the job.

“I wrote and asked for the job, which is not a recommended way of getting gainful employment. But that’s how I ended up there, it worked. You can’t do that nowadays."

Antony has never looked back since he was granted the role and he has previously lifted the lid on some of his favourite behind the scenes moments. He told Mirror about how a gaffe nearly "blew up the set".

He said: "I turned a microwave on ­during a scene but hadn’t realised the set ­designers had put a light in it to make it look like it was on. They had ­decided a working ­microwave would be too noisy. So I melted the light. I was like, ‘What’s that burning smell?’”

Away from the screen, Antony enjoys a happy relationship with long term partner Peter Eccleston. The couple exchanged rings in 2010 to show their commitment to one another, but didn't have a civil ceremony.

He took to Instagram to share a special birthday message this week as he said: "Happy birthday. Here's to many more years of my forcing you have a photo taken."

Peter works as a prop buyer behind the scenes on Coronation Street and is the nephew of former Doctor Who star, Christopher Eccleston. Antony's family have many ties to showbiz as his mum, Enid Dunn, has also graced our screens.

Enid has played multiple roles in Corrie as she appeared as Joan Lawson in 2002, a year before Antony joined the cast. The NHS volunteer has also appeared as Maureen Rothwell in 2014 - as well as two unnamed roles in 2006 and 2011.

Enid also had a recurring role as Joyce in Peter Kay's classic sitcom, Phoenix Nights. The actress also appeared in Merseybeat in 2001, which was a police procedural show filmed in the region.

Antony also has a close association with the armed forces and was recognised in Queen's birthday honours in 2022 for services to the British Army, personnel and veterans.