Exclusive: ITV Coronation Street’s Vicky Myers breaks silence in shock cancer battle with important warning
Coronation Street's Vicky Myers, known for portraying Lisa Swain in the soap, details her cancer battle and tells fans 'not trip over' the past in a poignant message.
Coronation Street’s Vicky Myers, known for portraying Lisa Swain in the soap, has detailed her cancer battle
After 28 years struggling as a jobbing actress, at times worrying how to make ends meet, Coronation Street ’s Vicky Myers understandably decided to splash out and treat herself when she landed a permanent job on the cobbles as detective Lisa Swain. But rather than a luxury holiday or a new car, Vicky’s present to herself was altogether more sensible.
“It’s really boring, but I treated myself to a new vacuum cleaner,” she laughs to OK!. “People might get a nice bottle of champagne, or go out for a meal, but my old vacuum was driving me mad, so I bought a Henry. “I know what it’s like to struggle with money, so I’m pretty frugal. You never know when a job is going to come to an end, so I stayed practical. At least my carpets and the inside of my car are clean now — it’s a great piece of equipment, with lots of different nozzles. No-one can tell me I’m not living it up!”
Vicky’s character, Lisa’ has a budding romance with Carla Connor, played by Alison King
While she’ll probably draw the line at vacuuming on New Year’s Eve, Vicky’s approach to the party season is equally as down to earth. “I like to stay in,” she says. “It’s not that I’m a party pooper, but now I’m bit older there’s something about
New Year’s Eve that feels like it’s forced fun. “I like to have a glass of something and watch the New Year celebrations and fireworks from the warmth and comfort of my front room, rather than be in a drunken haze at 2am trying to get a taxi home.”
Things will be a little more dramatic for Vicky on screen over the New Year as her character’s relationship with factory boss Carla Connor moves to another level. Regular viewers will know that the two women have been growing closer and just before Christmas Carla (Alison King) announced to the factory workers that the two women were now an item.
But on New Year’s Eve in the Rovers Return, Carla goes one step further and tells Lisa she has fallen in love with her. “It absolutely floors Lisa,” Vicky says. “She’s just come in from work and goes to the Rovers to ring in the New Year. It takes her by surprise and she doesn’t return the sentiment. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel the same way, I just think she’s not quite ready. This is a massive step for her.”
Vicky, 48, joined Coronation Street permanently earlier this year after three years making occasional appearances as straight-talking police officer DS Swain. Since then, she has featured in a host of major storylines and quickly established herself as one of the show’s most popular new characters.
Vicky finally has her big break after years a struggling actress ( Image: Getty Images)
Detailing her determination to make it in acting, Vicky said: “I always believed in myself and knew that it would happen one day – I never lost sight of that.”
It’s a far cry from 2010 when Vicky’s acting dreams seemed a world away. Having tied the knot when she was 20, her marriage ended. Then, just a few months later, she was diagnosed with cancer, after doctors spotted a malignant melanoma on her calf.
After treatment and reconstructive surgery she was able to return to auditioning, but in 2013, worn down by endless rejections at auditions and struggling to pay the bills as a single mum, she took a two-year break from acting and began an office job in a casting house.
“But I never gave up on my dream of being an actor,” Vicky says. “There were times when it was really hard and there were days when I said, ‘I just can’t do it, it isn’t practical.’ But I always believed in myself and knew that it would happen one day – I never lost sight of that.”
Vicky grew up in Stockport with her parents Helen and Paul who ran a local pub, and from an early age was fascinated by film. “I loved Wonder Woman and Flash Gordon — I watched them again and again on VHS,” she recalls with a smile. “From that I would make up stories with my dolls and go into these magical worlds. Then I watched Meryl Streep in Kramer Vs Kramer and that was it — I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
But with no idea how to go about it, Vicky left school and took a job in telesales. By the time she was 20 she was married with a baby. “It was what I wanted at the time,” she explains. “I got engaged at 18 and I knew that I wanted to start a family young, so having Meg when I was 20 seemed like the most natural thing in the world.”
Yet Vicky refused to give up on her acting ambitions, and when her daughter was just four months old, she picked up a copy of Yellow Pages and called an agency. She recalls, “I was holding Meg and I thought, ‘What do I say to this girl if she ever says she wants to do something.’ You lead by example. I didn’t want her to grow up with me saying, ‘I could have done this, I wish I’d done this.’ How could I tell her to go for something when I’d not done it myself.”
Vicky became a mum at just 20 years old, when she welcomed daughter Meghan (pictured together) ( Image: Vicky Myers/instagram)
Vicky was hired as an extra and to her amazement she found herself at Coronation Street . In 1998, aged 22, she played a hospital nurse in the episode where Des Barnes died. In 2007, she was a paramedic when a fire broke out at No.4 Coronation Street, and she appeared again in 2010 as a driver flagged down by Tyrone Dobbs, following a car crash.
Vicky’s dreams were then put on hold following her cancer diagnosis, but she returned to acting in 2015. Most recently she played WPC Sue Neave in The Long Shadow and she also starred in the 2018 comedy drama series Age Before Beauty , alongside Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley, who has become a close friend.
“She was fantastic with me,” Vicky reveals. “She taught me little tricks of the trade and all with the big welcoming arms and cuddles that she’s brilliant at. She’s a massive support and I’m privileged to be in her life.”
Vicky, whose daughter Meghan is now 28, is currently single and lives in Stockport. Lisa is the first gay character she has played, and she says she’s been bowled over by the reaction of viewers to her screen love story.
“I’ve had so many letters and messages, and people stopping to talk to me to share their stories, which is beautiful,” she smiles. “I’ve spoken to many couples who have been in a similar situation, and a close friend and her wife spoke to me at length.
“This story wasn’t a tick-box exercise from Coronation Street . These are two women of a certain age, realising they have fallen for each other and coming to terms with that. It shows it can happen at any age and to anybody — love is love.” The on-screen return of Carla’s younger brother Rob Donovan, currently in jail for murder, ensures there will be plenty of drama ahead for the two women, but Vicky herself refuses to look too far into the future and doesn’t make New Year resolutions.
“I don’t believe in them,” she says firmly. “Your life can change at any moment and you don’t need one day to define the rest of your year. My only plan for the New Year is work. I’m incredibly happy and I’d like it to stay that way.
“It hasn’t been easy, but that was my path and I think that’s what makes me appreciate it all the more. Take those experiences and learn what you can — take the positives from it, not just the negative. “The cancer diagnosis was horrible, but it’s important not to trip over something you’ve left behind. Just keep going, keep moving forward.”
