Coro Sue's good advice ‘I'M A REAL-LIFE AGONY AUNT'

Star-struck! The actress has a side business that can catch her new clients totally off guard

- Judy Kean

Her Coronation Street character Eileen Grimshaw has experienced more than her fair share of trauma and tragedy. And off-screen, actress Sue Cleaver has also faced tough times.

But when she’s not on set filming the long-running soap, Sue uses her time to help others struggling with what life has thrown at them.

Sue, 57, has trained as a psychotherapist and during breaks from the show sees clients. “It’s hard work fitting it in with Corrie, but I love it,” she enthuses.

She admits that clients sometimes get shocked when they realize who she is. “It’s maybe a bit weird for them at first, but once we sit down and start talking, they forget all about it. The novelty definitely wears off.

“The people who come to see me have a problem they want to talk about and that’s what they are concerned with, not who I am.”

Sue, who has also worked as a TV agony aunt, decided to undergo training after having therapy sessions herself. “I have it – once a week,” says the mum-of-one. “I’ve learned so much about myself and it’s changed my life. I get excited about having it each week. It’s an hour when it really is all about you. It’s a bit like going to the gym, but for your mind.