Yahoo News Coronation Street's Sue Cleaver on secret turmoil from teenage years
Note: This article discusses mental health and abortion.
Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver has shared that she went through turmoil during her teenage years, adding that she felt “lost”.
The star has played the stern Eileen Grimshaw for the last 24 years on the ITV soap, but explained in an interview with The Mirror that her character’s demeanour is in stark contrast to her own personality.
In a candid interview, Cleaver shared that her teenage years - in which she became pregnant by a man twice her age - contributed to her insecurities in later life, with the star adding that she was “very unhappy”.
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“I looked for love and validation and acceptance in all the wrong places," Cleaver said, adding that her relationships with older men are "unthinkable" nowadays but weren't at the time.
“It was no-one’s fault. My parents, who were fantastic, only ever tried to do their best for me, but like a lot of teenagers I was lost. Nowadays there is awareness around mental health, but when I was that age, we had no concept of it. When I look back, I was very unhappy. I’d never want to relive that time again.
“It was tragic really and it breaks my heart to think about it now. There’s so much shame wrapped up in my teenage years. I was just searching and searching for someone to make me feel okay, because I didn’t know how to be okay [with] myself. So, I became really promiscuous.”
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Cleaver, who was speaking ahead of the launch of her memoir A Work in Progress, also spoke about the effects that an abortion had on her life, describing the period as “turmoil”.
“Now it’s appalling to think of myself at that young age in that situation with men who should have known better. I was in absolute turmoil," she revealed.
“I eventually told my Mum – I said: ‘This has happened, I’m going to the hospital on this date, can I have a lift and can we not tell Dad’. I don’t think we ever spoke about it again, but that was my choice. I don’t think we knew how to. My dad never knew. I look back and think I was so resilient. I just got on and I dealt with stuff.”
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
If you've been affected by the issues raised in this story, organisations who can offer support include the NHS, Samaritans on 116 123 or Mind on 0300 123 3393. Readers in the US are encouraged to visit mentalhealth.gov.
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