Simon Gregson's mum called him 'Steve'
Simon Gregson is used to being called by his Coronation Street character name, but was still stunned when his mum referred to him as Steve.
Simon Gregson's own mum calls him Steve.
The 50-year-old actor has played Steve McDonald on Coronation Street for 35 years and has grown resigned to the fact fans of the show will call him by his character name - but even those closest to him, including his co-stars, have been known to slip up too.
Speaking on the Fuelling Around podcast, he said: “I got called Steve by my mum once at home. I mean, it was a genuine mistake. She went, ‘I’ve been talking with Steve all day at work.' I was like, I know, but it’s the last thing I need at home. Bless my poor mum, it was genuine. But yeah, I get called Steve all the time, all the time.
“I even get called Steve off people at work I’ve known for 35, 36 years, you know?”
Simon believes the attention soap stars receive is unique when compared to the experiences of other actors.
He said: “Your life is a huge goldfish bowl being in the public eye and what have you, but there’s a strange thing with soaps.
“A very good friend of mine, John Michie had joined the show and he’d done some fantastic big movies. He’d done all sorts, a very well known face.
“I’m sure he won’t mind me telling this story, he said, ‘If you guys go to London, you won’t get bothered.’
“So I said, ‘Mate, give it about two weeks after your character appears on screen and come back to me.’ “And he went, ‘Oh my God, I’m getting mithered everywhere I go.'"
Simon previously told how these days when a young actor joins the soap, everything is explained to them about how their life will change but claimed that was not the case when he first joined the cast.
He told Lorraine: "All the people who come into 'Corrie' now are taken off into a room and they're told about what will happen, press intrusion, how being famous - for want of a better word - will change your life. But when we started, there was none of that so we just had to deal with it. And we kind of became massive overnight.
"It was the late 80s, early 90s and now I think being on TV or in the public eye is a lot easier."
