Antony Cotton found it "really spooky" how he was given a homeless 'Coronation Street' storyline - just weeks after he helped someone in a similar situation.
Antony Cotton
The 'Corrie' star is able to relate to his forthcoming hard-hitting plot, which will see his character Sean Tully end up on the streets, after helping a guy out who was also affected by the same issue, and admits he might have questioned the storyline before meeting the man.
He said: "Very coincidentally, 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.
"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?'
"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.
"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."
Antony took the guy to a charity to get help and then approached the same aid organisation weeks later for assistance with the plot.
He added: "I went to [the charity] 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.' "
After being left homeless, Sean will also be battered in a vicious attack as part of the emotional storyline.
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