Coronation Street star Shayne Ward has admitted he felt 'scared' when first approached about the hard-hitting suicide storyline that saw his character Aidan Connor take his own life. Speaking on Loose Women alongside co-star Catherine Tyldesley, the 33-year-old actor said he knew the plot would be bigger than anything he had done before and praised the soap's writers for handling it sensitively.
Ward revealed that producer Kate Oates approached him late last year with the idea. 'Instantly I was scared,' he said. 'I knew this was a decision I had to make: Could I do this storyline justice or do I carry on as Aidan and do a different story?' After discussions with his family and partner, he decided to take on the role, acknowledging it was 'bigger than me'.
The soap worked closely with charities Samaritans and CALM to ensure the storyline was handled with care. Ward and Oates met with the charities to get guidance. In Wednesday's hour-long special, viewers saw Aidan's father Johnny discover his son's body off-screen, breaking the news to the family in an emotional episode.
Tyldesley, 34, who plays Eva Price, said: 'By the time we get to our age we're all affected in some way by suicide, so we did speak to people who had experienced that first hand. The entire team at Corrie and writers in particular have done it so well.' Both actors said they received messages from fans who shared their own experiences or said the scenes helped them seek support. Tyldesley added: 'What Corrie has done has actually saved lives.'
