Coronation Street fans gobsmacked to learn two stars are real-life mum and son and appeared on soap
Coronation Street has seen a number of real-life family members appear on the cobbles over the years - but fans were left stunned after realising two stars are mother and son
Coronation Street has seen its fair share of real-life family members gracing the cobbles, with siblings, cousins, and even parents and children sharing the set. Among them are cousins Brooke Vincent and Ellie Leach, as well as the late Rick Neelan (Greg Wood), who was the real-life brother of footballer Tommy Orpington (Matt Milburn).
However, fans have recently been surprised to discover a mother-son duo who appeared on the soap years ago. Sue Jenkins, who joined the show in 1985 as Gloria Todd, is the real-life mother of Richard Fleeshman, who played Craig Harris.
Sue, who also starred in Brookside and Emmerdale, became a regular on the show as a barmaid at the iconic Rovers Return and worked alongside Julie Goodyear, who famously portrayed landlady Bet Lynch. Richard joined the cast in 2002 as part of the Harris family, who were hiding due to the witness protection programme.
He turned into a goth which his dad didn’t like, and also became Rosie Webster’s (played by Helen Flanagan ) first boyfriend. Things got really dramatic when Katy Harris, Craig’s sister, killed their dad after a big row about her secret romance with Martin Platt.
Angela Harris, their mum, tried to cover for Katy, but Katy felt so bad she ended her life. After all that, Craig planned to escape to Berlin with Rosie, but ended up leaving on his own and said goodbye to the cobbles in 2006 for good, reports the Daily Star.
Sue and Richard’s stint on Corrie left fans online gobsmacked at the revelation. On Twitter, one viewer shared a post about Sue’s appearance on Corrie. Another fan replied: “That’s Richard Fleeshmans mum!” Someone else replied: “Wow, all this time watching and I never knew that, I can see her son in that photo now.” A third chimed in and wrote: “Her real life son played Craig Harris, son of Psycho Tommy! “.
As well as her Corrie stint, Sue played the role of Jackie Corkhill in Brookside for nine years between 1992 and 2001. She also starred in five episodes of Emmerdale in 2008 as Bonnie Drinkwater.