Coronation Street Star Lucy Fallon Reveals Five-Week Psychiatric Hospital Stay
Coronation Street actress Lucy Fallon has publicly disclosed for the first time that she spent five weeks as an inpatient at The Priory psychiatric hospital after experiencing what she describes as a catastrophic mental health crisis that brought her to "absolute rock bottom."
From Soap Exit to Mental Health Crisis
The 30-year-old actress, best known for playing Sarah Platt's daughter Bethany on the long-running ITV soap, explained that her mental health struggles intensified significantly after she left Coronation Street in March 2020, coinciding with the first COVID-19 lockdown. "From quite young, I've always struggled. I've always been quite insecure. That got worse when we went through lockdown because I left Corrie and I wasn't really getting any work," Fallon revealed during an appearance on the Secure the Insecure podcast.
She continued with emotional candor: "I was just at the absolute rock bottom that I've ever, ever felt. And I really, really, really struggled. I had a really bad batch of mental health towards the end of 2020 and I ended up being in The Priory for about five weeks because my mental health was so bad. I couldn't see a way out of feeling how I was feeling."
Resistance to Treatment and Eventual Acceptance
The Blackpool-born actress admitted that checking into The Priory—a private psychiatric hospital in southwest London where inpatient treatment costs exceed £7,000 weekly—was not her decision. "I ended up having to go to hospital, and it was from that point that other people were involved—my mum and my sisters and people that I'd worked with before," Fallon explained.
"It almost felt like other people, other factors, were telling me, 'Right, you need some serious help now. It's gone a bit too far.' I really didn't want to do it. I didn't want to go and I even remember getting there. I really, really did not want to go in."
Initially, Fallon struggled to accept that she needed the level of care The Priory provided. "At first, I didn't feel like I was bad enough to be there. It almost felt like this just feels a bit alien and a bit strange, like, I don't know why I'm here."
However, her perspective shifted over time. "After a few weeks of being there, I was like, okay. I got to grips with it. And actually after a week of being there, I liked it. I felt quite safe. I met quite a lot of people there who I sometimes still keep in contact with now."
The Challenging Transition Back to Normal Life
Leaving the facility proved difficult for the actress, who was placed on medication—which she has since discontinued—and moved back in with her parents while she regained her footing. "It took me a while to adjust," Fallon reflected. "Coming out and being in the real world and just having to carry on felt strange. But I also had a really good support system around me."
She expressed particular gratitude for her parents' support during this transitional period. "Going and being with my mum and dad for a few weeks after, rather than just going back to my house, was a really nice thing—especially to have your tea cooked for you every night. And all my washing done as well."
Personal Growth and New Beginnings
Fallon, who is engaged to Preston North End footballer Ryan Ledson and shares three-year-old son Sonny and 13-month-old daughter Nancy with him, described meeting her now-fiancé on the celebrity dating app Raya as instrumental in beginning her new chapter. "I would say I still, for a while, felt insecure," she admitted. "I felt like I had so much baggage with everything that had happened. It was a conversation I had with him almost straight away."
The actress has reframed her perspective on her mental health journey. "I just accepted that, that was a blip in my mental health and in my own journey. I do deserve to be happy and to be in the relationship that I'm in, and I deserve the job that I've had. I've worked really hard."
Overcoming Additional Personal Challenges
Fallon's path to recovery included navigating significant personal tragedy when she suffered a miscarriage in early 2022. "I felt devastated," she shared. "I felt like: how can this thing that I thought was going to be this amazing chapter just be taken away? I also felt like everybody else could just carry on with what they were doing, and I felt stuck. I can't lie, that lasted a while. I felt like I really struggled to shake it."
She credits falling pregnant again relatively quickly with helping her through this difficult period, and the subsequent birth of her son Sonny Jude helped her reframe the experience of loss. "If that hadn't happened, we wouldn't have Sonny," Fallon reflected. "Even though it was horrendous, it almost showed me how much I wanted that to be the next chapter in my life."
Return to Coronation Street and Current Mental State
Fallon returned to Coronation Street on New Year's Eve 2023, reprising her role as Bethany Platt. She now describes herself as being in a better place than ever before, despite acknowledging that she still experiences difficult days.
"I wouldn't say that I wake up every morning with a spring in my step," she admitted honestly. "I wake up sometimes and I'm like, I can't be a**ed with this day. But then other days I wake up and I'm like, come on, let's seize the day. Let's go."
She continued with thoughtful reflection: "Even though I'm so appreciative, I get overwhelmed. Sometimes I'll wake up and I'll think, oh my god, how am I supposed to look after two children all day? I'm scared, even though they're my children. But I'd say mentally, I feel very content, even though there's days where I feel a bit s***. Generally, I feel like I've got myself together."
Fallon concluded by expressing how distant that period of crisis now feels. "It seems like a completely different life. I feel like that was a totally different version of me. And I've been lucky enough to say that I did manage to get myself out of it, because I know for so many people that's not the reality and you can stay on that level and it's really hard to get out of feeling like that."
