Simon opened up about his anxiety battle (Picture: ITV)
Being a massive TV star and household name doesn’t mean that you’re immune from the problems everyone else faces, as Coronation Street star Simon Gregson knows only too well.
Simon has played Steve McDonald in the ITV soap since 1989, joining alongside Nicholas Cochrane who played his twin brother Andy. His portrayal of the character, with his multiple marriages over the years, has earned him numerous awards. They include a Legends of Industry Award for Television Acting awarded in 2017.
Steve is also a firm fan favourite with his witty one liners and his self effacing manner, along with his relationship with scary wife Tracy (Kate Ford) and daughter Amy (Elle Mulvaney).
Despite all this, Simon has revealed that life has had its ordeals for him. Speaking to Cheshire Life magazine as he and his wife Emma Gregory have taken over the Morley Tea Rooms on the outskirts of Wilmslow, Cheshire, Simon talked about how he had to quickly adapt to fame at the age of 15.
‘There was massive press intrusion,’ he recalled. ‘I had no previous acting experience, I was just a kid plucked from a normal secondary comprehensive school and turned into a household name overnight, so I had to learn on the job.’
Simon has been involved in some massive storylines over the years, including a long-running story where Steve was suffering from depression.
‘After that storyline I started to have lads come up to me thanking me and saying they were getting the help they need and it’s changed their lies. So that was wonderful,’ Simon said.
He also revealed that he’d had his own mental health struggles.
Simon was 15 years old when he joined Coronation Street (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
‘I was always really anxious growing up, worrying about what people thought of me,’ he said. ‘It made me try too hard, which made things worse because I over-shared and over-cared.’
This had led to periods of depression, the actor shared, and he realised he needed help when his children – three boys now aged 8, 14 and 16 – started to notice something was wrong. A psychiatrist confirmed that Simon had been suffering from anxiety for more than 20 years.
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Simon tried medication and also aired his thoughts on Twitter, but he said that there was one specific moment that put him on the road to recovery.
‘Personally, I think everyone has a mental trigger that can help with recovery,’ he reflected. ‘For me it was thinking, “Do I want to be surrounded by my family on my deathbed wishing I worried more?” No I didn’t.
‘That was a eureka moment. So now I just let things go. I’ve learned to train my brain not to hold on to stuff that doesn’t matter.’
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‘That was a eureka moment.’
