'I'M HAPPY BEING SINGLEI GET ALL THE LOVE I NEED FROM MY SON'

ACTRESS AND SINGER CLAIRE SWEENEY SHARES HER THOUGHTS ON BEING A WORKING MUM AND LEARNING TO LOVE HERSELF

Claire Sweeney is sipping a cup of tea while gazing at the ocean from her hotel room in balmy Barbados with her eight-year-old son, Jaxon. It's a moment of deep gratitude for the actress, whose Caribbean New Year escape has been three years in the making following countless Covid cancellations. Claire earned just £5,000 during lockdown when the entertainment industry was decimated. But the former Brookside star has started 2023 more in demand than ever.

Since turning 51 last April, her career has soared with an unrelenting schedule that included starring in 9-5 The Musical and Proud Cabaret's Cabaret All Stars, hosting her BBC radio show Claire Sweeney Meets and filming Channel 5 drama The Good Ship Murder with Shayne Ward and Catherine Tyldesley.

"I'm so grateful at 51 years of age to have had one of the best years of my life," says Claire. "I'd sold my house in Majorca in 2019 a year before Covid so luckily had the savings from the sale to see me In Barbado with her son Jaxon through, but it was tough. I'm just so proud that I've been in the industry for nearly 40 years and I'm still working and loving what I do." Claire lives with Jaxon in a four-story townhouse in London that she bought for £1.2 million in 2006. She also has an apartment in Pimlico and two in Liverpool that she rents out. Her success comes not only from her talent but from her determination to provide for her son, who she shares with former IT professional Daniel Riley.