Coronation Street star Claire Sweeney has issued a heartfelt tribute after she debuted on Vanessa Feltz’s new show. The 53-year-old has been a hit with fans since she joined the ITV soap in 2023 as Cassandra Plummer.
The character has been at the centre of the action after she poisoned Ken Barlow in order to remain as his carer. Her actions were foiled by Tracy Barlow last month and Cassie was arrested.
However, Ken dropped the charges and Cassie is now hoping to turn her life back around again. Away from the screen, Claire has also been busy.
She regularly shares updates from her exciting life in showbiz on Instagram. She has taken to the social media platform today to share a behind the scenes snap from Vanessa Feltz’s self titled new Channel 5 show.
Claire was accompanied by her mum, Kathleen, and Vanessa in the image shared with her 207,000 Instagram followers. She captioned the post: “Great to be a guest on my mate’s show yesterday. Love you @vanessafeltzofficial.”
“Helen Flanagan, who also appeared on Vanessa’s new Channel 5 show this week took to the comments to share a series of heart eye emojis.
Vanessa’s new Channel 5 show airs every weekday at 12.30pm. The 63-year-old has stepped away from her role as a commentator on This Morning to front the new programme.
Vanessa had been a commentator on ITV’s flagship daytime programme for the past 33 years. However, her commitments to her new show means she has left her position on This Morning.
Speaking to the Daily Star, she said: “I’ve been on ‘This Morning’ since 1992. It’s been a long time. But I’m now doing my own show and I can’t do both.” Vanessa hailed her This Morning co-stars who supported her after she made the decision.
She added: “When I told everyone I wouldn’t be able to do the show anymore, they were lovely about it. I heard from Alison Hammond and Holly Willoughby immediately and the bosses were charming.
“I’ll miss working with them all.” The broadcaster heaped praise on This Morning for giving her an opportunity as she made her television debut on the programme.
She said: “I have learned lots of stuff on ‘This Morning’. When I first did it, I had never been on TV before. I didn’t know what was going on. I was bamboozled but they gave me a contract.”
Vanessa became a household name with her eponymous ITV daytime show, which ran from 1994 until 1998 before moving to the BBC for a short-lived show for several months the following year – announced her new show earlier this month.