Coronation Street icon Simon Gregson, who has played Steve McDonald for 36 years in the ITV soap, has shared one key problem with fame which is so bad even his own mum has started doing it
Coronation Street star Simon Gregson has revealed everyone calls him Steve – including his own mum.
The actor, 50, has played hapless taxi firm boss Steve McDonald for 36 years since joining the ITV soap in 1989 aged 15.
And he admitted people are so used to seeing him play the long-term part they call him by his character’s name. But even Simon was stunned when his mother started using his alter ego’s name.
He told the Fuelling Around podcast: “Yeah, I get called Steve all the time, all the time. I even get called Steve off people at work I’ve known for 35, 36 years, you know.
“I got called Steve by my mum once, at home. I mean, it was a genuine mistake. She went, ‘I’ve been talking with Steve all day at work.
“I was like, ‘I know, but it’s the last thing I need at home.’ Bless my poor mom. It was genuine.”
Simon said having been beamed into TV viewer’s living rooms for so long also made people feel as though they know him.
He said: “Your life is a huge goldfish bowl.
“The thing is with a soap you’re in people’s front rooms every night of the week and they grow up with your character and they kind of grow up with you. So in their psyche, you’re kind of in their lives.
“The reaction to soap people is strange. I once had a woman grab hold of my arm down the aisle in the supermarket and she grabbed hold of me with a face of shock and horror and held onto me for ages and then apologised and walked off.
“And I thought, ‘She thinks I’m a dead relative.’
“Everyone thinks that you’re just like my brother, you’re just like me dad. Now it’s your dad.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
