Former Coronation Street actor Kevin Kennedy has told how appearing in the long-running ITV soap 'saved his life', and how he later passed on the support he received to one of his former co-stars.
The actor is famed for playing the loveable Curly Watts in the ITV soap, which is filmed in Salford. He appeared on the cobbles from 1983 to 2003, and in recent years, has carved out a successful career in musical theatre.
Aside from his career, Kevin has been in recovery from an alcohol addiction for more than 28 years, and in 2020, he launched his own charity, Kennedy Street Foundation, in the hope he could help hundreds of people across the country on their own road to recovery.
ITV and Coronation Street 'saved my life'
Kevin entered rehab in 1998 after the death from alcoholism of his friend Kevin Lloyd, who played Tosh Lines in The Bill. He previously said his bosses at ITV could have made the decision to sack him, but helped to rehabilitate him.
Speaking to Susann Reid and Ed Balls during Wednesday's (October 14) episode of Good Morning Britain, Kevin said: "ITV and Coronation Street effectively saved my life, really, by sending me into rehab. I was very, very grateful, still am, for that. You know, I was in there for four weeks and came out slightly different."
When Ed asked if his drinking was impacting his work, Kevin explained: "Well, that's the thing about addicts, they're very resourceful, intelligent people. They have to be. That's why, with the charity that we do, we promote visual recovery. I mean, there are plenty of stories that you can just pick up a newspaper, and you see, 'Mum at school gates 88 million times over the limit', which is fine and that's good, but we look at the solution - visible recovery - because people do recover."
Support for former co-star Denise Welch
Kevin was also asked about his former Corrie co-star Denise Welch, who previously told how she beat alcoholism thanks to the help of her friend. "Well, I've known Denise and her whole family for a very, very long time," Kevin said on the programme. "I love her to bits. She's a good friend of mine. She saw me at my worst, and she saw me at my best, and that's how recovery works sometimes."
"It's all about what you can see. It's visible, and eventually, later on, she got herself into a bit of trouble. And, it must be said, Denise did it all. She deserves all the credit. All I did was say, 'Look, maybe you should go this way'. I opened the door..."
Celebrating 50 years in showbiz
Kevin, who is celebrating 50 years in showbiz by taking on a dark new role in The Picture of Dorian Gray: A New Musical, was also shown some of his memorable moments from his time on the cobbles, and when asked if he were to pick a favourite, he admitted: "I mean, all of it is my favourite actually. I'm very proud of that body of work. The poor boy went through it, didn't he?"
"Even now, when people come up and say, 'Oh, I remember when you did that', and I think that's a really humbling experience, and I really love it. So it's great. It's fantastic."
