Corrie’s Sue Cleaver surprised by Richard Madeley live on air amid secret family connection
Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver appeared on This Morning today to talk about her upcoming departure from the soap, and she revealed she has a surprising connection to the daytime chat show and one of its former hosts.
Chatting to Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley on the sofa, Sue, who has played Eileen Grimshaw on the soap for 25 years, revealed that one of her first jobs after drama school was for Liverpool Films, and her office was next door to the This Morning studio, which was based in the city at the time. Sue told Cat and Ben that she turned up at the This Morning offices to pitch an idea for a TV show. “I remember going in and pitching an idea for a strand on going into people’s gardens and giving them a makeover,” she said. “This was way before any of the shows like Ground Force were on.”
Sue also delivered flowers to married This Morning hosts Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan around the same time. “I dropped off flowers to Richard’s house, and when I was a bit bored at work I’d go and have a look at their office and was thinking ‘I’d like to do that,'” she remembered.
Sue revealed she has a family connection to Richard Madeley (
ITV)
Cat and Ben then surprised Sue with a video message from Richard Madeley himself. He said: “Hi Sue, just to say a very big thank you for those flowers all those years ago, as you can see they are still going strong,” as he showed a vase of daffodils in his house. He went on to congratulate her on 25 years on Coronation Street, and Sue was then presented with a bouquet of flowers sent from him and Judy.
Sue then revealed she now has a family connection with the famous couple. “Do you want to know the really weird thing?,” she said. “Judy and Richard live in my half-sister’s house, she sold her house to them, and they are godmother to each other’s kids.”
Over the past 25 years, Sue’s character on Coronation Street has been at the centre of some of the biggest storylines, including her son, Todd, fathering a child in his teens with Sarah Louise Platt. Sue has set her sights on other projects but will remain on screens until late Spring. She has confirmed that Eileen will not be killed off, meaning there is the chance she could return in the future.
After announcing in January her decision to bid farewell to Weatherfield following an on-and-off 25-year tenure as the beloved Eileen, Sue shared: “I’ve had 25 privileged years of working on Coronation Street. The door is still firmly open, but as I reached my 60th year I decided it was time to embrace change, look for new adventures and live fearlessly.”
It is believed that conversations about her departure first started last summer after she took an extended period of leave from the show to take part in the theatre production of Sister Act as as Mother Superior. The early conversations “gave writers plenty of time to create a strong exit storyline for her, which viewers will love.”
