Antony Cotton has revealed a personal connection to his Coronation Street character Sean Tully's homeless storyline.
The actor, who took part in the most recent series of Dancing on Ice, appeared on Lorraine on Tuesday (May 29) to discuss his forthcoming storyline on the ITV soap, which will see Sean sleep rough after becoming homeless.
And coincidentally, the actor was in the process of helping a homeless man back on his feet when he was told about it.
Related: Coronation Street's dark new Sean Tully storyline is revealed
"Before we did this storyline, before I knew about it, I helped a homeless lad and so I've been through this whole process, literally weeks before, by pure coincidence," Antony said.
"So when I first heard about this storyline, had I not gone through this I might have gone, 'Oh would that happen? Does that happen?'
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"This person that I know, had a missus, two kids, a car, a house and it all went wrong and he ended up on the streets."
He added: "I've been through the whole process with him, the hostels, the shared housing, I've been through the whole lot. When I started it, it was very poignant.
"This lad lived in a tent in a stairwell and that's how Sean ends up. It's really, really spooky.
"[Barnabus, the charity in Manchester] I went to with him, I had to go to them [again] and say, 'I know you're not going to believe this, but I'm doing this storyline. I don't want you to think I've come in to get ideas, because that's not how it's happened.'"
To find out more about the work done by Manchester homeless charity Barnabus, visit its website.
Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV.
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