'Everything I do is for my son'

Claire Sweeney on acting with Corrie legends, and how having a child completed her life

- Sue Crawford

I feel blessed,' is how Claire Sweeney describes her current state of mind, as she reflects on the whirlwind that has been the past 18 months.

'If you'd have told me a year and a half ago that I'd be in Coronation Street and that I'd have done Dancing on Ice, I wouldn't have believed you,' she smiles. 'The nature of this business is ups and downs, and I feel hugely grateful that I've had another bite of the cherry and I'm in a job that makes me happy.'

Regular viewers love her character Cassie Plummer, the sassy daughter of Evelyn (played by Maureen Lipman), but Claire admits that she's not been placed on quite the same pedestal at home. So does her nine-year-old son Jaxon even watch the show?

'I'm not going to lie, he doesn't!' she laughs. 'He's obsessed with The Simpsons, so if I said, "Switch The Simpsons off, you're going to watch Mummy on telly now," he would rightly say, "Why do I want to watch you on telly when you're sitting next to me?" He's a real leveller!'

Single mum Claire, 53, lives in London with Jaxon, having become a parent when she was 43. 'I'd done a lot and had a fantastic career, and by the time he came along, there were a lot of boxes ticked,' she says.