Coronation Street's Kym Marsh has revealed that she and her children lived without heat or light because of her struggles with poverty before her success. The mother-of-two told how she often could not afford to top up her energy meters and found herself in a cold, dark house. Kym, who plays Michelle Connor in Coronation Street, was speaking at the launch of the Home Heat Helpline's winter campaign, which aims to help low-income households save money on energy bills. Kym said: "I was a single mum on benefits. You don't get an awful lot and I was on a very tight budget. "Having two small children is always very expensive. I ended up having a card meter fitted in my house for electric and gas so I could keep on top of what I was spending and wasn't running up massive bills I couldn't afford to pay. "Very often there were times where my heating went and I was sitting with my coat on in my living room and I'd end up taking kids to my mum's because we were sitting in the dark." Kym, who found success in the reality show band Hear'Say, is mother to David, 14, and Emily, 11. She said: "I am very appreciative of what I've got. And so are my children, particularly my son. He really does remember what it was like when we lived there. He always says to me 'remember that house with the flying ants'." Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk's new weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop
