Actor Sam Aston has grown up as Chesney Winter-Brown in Coronation Street – but did you know his sister was in the ITV soap before he was?
Sam, 31, arrived on the cobbles in 2003 as the cheeky son of Cilla (Wendi Peters), and sister of established character Fiz (Jennie McAlpine).
He soon formed a bond with her boyfriend Kirk (Andy Whyment) and step-dad Les (Bruce Jones), and established himself as a real fan favourite.
In more recent years, we’ve seen Chesney deal with the realities of adulthood – struggling with the cost of living, and supporting his wife Gemma (Dolly-Rose Campbell) and their five children.
Prior to his Corrie fame, Sam appeared in a memorable advert for Warburton’s bread, and also had supporting roles in The Bill and Where The Heart Is.
Next year we’ll see him take to the skates in the next series of Dancing On Ice.
He’s grown up on the cobbles (Pictures: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Claire and Becky moved into No. 6 with Des Barnes (Picture: Granada Television)
However, you may be surprised to learn that his sister Emily starred on the Street many years before he did.
In 1996, she made her first appearance as Becky Palmer – the daughter of Des Barnes’ (Philip Middlemiss) girlfriend Claire (Maggie Norris).
Becky’s dad was an RAF lieutenant that had been killed in a hangar fire, and she struggled to accept her mum’s new relationship. Before long, the Palmer women moved into No. 6.
They soon faced troubles when Claire realised she would lost her RAF pension if she moved in with another man, so she and Becky briefly moved into the flat above the bookmakers to try and cover their tracks.
When Claire’s former father in law reported what she was doing, she came clean and surrendered the money.
Becky formed an unlikely friendship with Mavis Wilton (Thelma Barlow) over their love of birds, and she had a schoolgirl crush on butcher Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold).
The character left after 51 appearances in 1997, when Claire discovered that Des was trying to bed Samantha Failsworth (Tina Hobley).
In 2000, Sam and Emily’s sibling Joseph appeared as Tommy Duckworth, grandson of Jack and Vera (William Tarmey and Liz Dawn).
A real showbiz family!
