Coronation Street actress Claire Sweeney appeared on ITV's This Morning on Tuesday, June 16, where she paid a heartfelt tribute to the late boxing legend Ricky Hatton.
Emotional Memories Shared Live
The Scouse star spoke to hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard about her role in Annie the Musical and her upcoming exit from Coronation Street. The conversation turned emotional as Claire discussed the loss of Ricky Hatton, who died in September 2025.
Claire and Ricky were longtime friends and briefly dated after competing on Dancing On Ice in 2024. Following his death, Claire posted an emotional statement on social media, and a special tribute event was held last week.
During the show, Ben Shephard recalled training with Ricky for a Sport Relief boxing match. "He trained me for my boxing fight on Sport Relief all those years ago. He was my trainer, so I got to go to his gym. He was still fighting as well, and he put me through my paces, absolutely broke me," Ben said.
Claire responded warmly: "I bet he made you laugh as well, didn't he?" Ben agreed: "Endlessly. When you're broken on the floor in piles of sweat, he'd just make you laugh."
A Legend Remembered
Ben described the tribute as amazing, saying Ricky would be remembered as an icon. Claire added: "Yeah, absolutely. I feel very blessed that he was in my life. He was wonderful, [a] great man. His send-off, the funeral, was amazing, and he was a legend. A good, good man."
The hosts also reminisced about Ricky's memorable Dancing On Ice performance. Claire laughed: "He was terrible!" Ben noted: "He was absolutely shocking, but he was a sporting icon that was happy to be seen as the Joker. That's what was always so special about him."
Claire recalled his wish to skate to Elvis's If I Believe, saying: "All he wanted to do was to skate to that song. I'm so glad you trained with him." Ben concluded: "[I] loved it, loved it."
Coronation Street Exit Teased
Earlier in the interview, Claire teased a "blast from the past" arriving on the cobbles as part of her character Cassie Plummer's exit storyline, describing it as "heartbreaking," "dramatic," and "explosive."
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10am, while Coronation Street airs weekday nights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
