Claire Sweeney is currently playing the role of Cassandra Plummer on Coronation Street, but for many, she will always be known as Lindsey Corkhill from Brookside. The actress made her name as part of the Corkhill family, as she took on the role from 1991 until 2003.
A new episode of Brookside will be airing on TV screens tomorrow evening, over two decades since the show came to an end. While many of the most famous Brookside characters jumped at the chance to reprise their role once more, Claire will not be returning.
She told the Daily Star: “It’s wonderful that it’s coming back. But I’m not doing it. I’m still a big fan of the show. I took my son to the Close a few months ago to show it to him.”
As she showed her son, Jaxon, where she used to work, Claire admitted she became emotional. She said: “I got out the car and I started filling up with tears. I was in front of my old house.”
As Hollyoaks and Brookside stars react to the highly-anticipated TV crossover, Claire has reflected on memories from the early days of Hollyoaks as Brookside began winding down.
A post uploaded by Hollyoaks and former EastEnders actress Rita Simons, who played the character Marie Fielding in the latter, was captioned: “Off out to celebrate 30 years of Hollyoaks with the husband.”
Responding to the post, Claire replied: “Can’t believe it’s 30 years! Remember when it started and we all shared a green room. Hollyoaks and Brookie.” Rita commented “ahhh” back, alongside a red love heart emoji.
Hollyoaks, which began in 1995, took over as Channel 4’s flagship continuing drama when the Liverpool-based soap ended on November 4, 2003. It started filming on part of the former set of Brookside, where it is still shot today, originally with just nine characters.
Stars such as Ricky Tomlinson, Sue Johnston, Paul Usher, Philip Olivier, Suzanne Collins, Michael Starke and John McArdle have all reprised their roles for the Brookside return.
Brookside is returning to screens on Wednesday, October 22 for a one-off special crossover episode. The episode will be broadcast at 7pm on E4.
Louis Emerick, who is renowned for his role as Mick Johnson in Brookside, is currently starring as Donny Clark in Hollyoaks and storyline details have revealed this will bring about the crossover.
Speaking about the story, Louis said: “Well, the character of Froggy Black recently arrived and is rattling Donny’s cage because he knows a big secret Donny’s been hiding.
“All is not as it seems and we can safely say it’s connected to the Brookside crossover. The house of cards is going to start collapsing.”