Vicky Myers, who plays DS Lisa Swain on Coronation Street, has spoken publicly for the first time about her battle with skin cancer and a bitter divorce that derailed her acting career. The 48-year-old actress was diagnosed with the disease in 2010, the same year she split from her husband, leaving her a single mother to daughter Meghan.
Speaking to the Mirror, Myers revealed that a doctor spotted a suspicious mark on her calf by chance while she was accompanying her nephew to a medical appointment. Within five days, she was in hospital for treatment. 'It's quite incredible to think that if it had been a miserable day the doctor would never have seen the little dark mark on my calf,' she said.
The diagnosis forced Myers to pause her acting ambitions. She took a two-year break from auditions, working in an office and doing ironing jobs to pay the bills. 'I felt financially, mentally and physically I needed a break just to breathe,' she recalled. Despite the challenges, she never gave up on her dream of joining Coronation Street.
Myers first appeared on the soap as DS Swain in 2021, investigating the acid attack on Daisy Midgeley and Stephen Reid's crimes. Now, she has been given a full-time role and is at the centre of a major storyline involving the arrest of Roy Cropper for the suspected murder of teenager Lauren Bolton.
Reflecting on her journey, Myers said: 'When my husband and I split up, I was quite down, bitter and vengeful, and when I was told I had cancer, I remember thinking, "If this is it for me, I've missed out on all this time with my daughter." The diagnosis re-centred me and made me focus on what is really important.'
