Disabled actress to join Corrie

Disabled actress to join Corrie
Disabled actress to join Corrie

A disabled actress is to join the cast of Coronation Street - just a few months after EastEnders cast its first full-time disabled character. The Sun reports that Cherylee Houston - who suffers from a degenerative tissue disorder and is in a wheelchair - will begin filming on the soap next month. The 35-year-old will play Izzy, a girl who Kirk Sutherland - played by actor Andrew Whyment - meets through an Internet dating site. Houston, who has previously starred in the likes of Holby City, Little Britain, The Bill and Emmerdale, told the paper, "I grew up with Coronation Street and can't wait to start on the show." A spokesman for the soap said, "Izzy is a real firebrand who wastes no time in taking on some of the Street's feistiest females. "However, the people she slams so savagely are usually the ones who end up liking and respecting her the most." It's not the first time a disabled actor has appeared in Coronation Street. Ryan Connor's friend Phil was played by actor Richard Sargent, who is in a wheelchair, while deaf actress Ali Briggs played the role of Emily Bishop's niece. Disabled actor Adam Best joined the cast of EastEnders last autumn.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.