Katie McGlynn is proud that her 'Coronation Street' cancer storyline is still saving lives.
Katie McGlynn
The 27-year-old star's cobbles alter ego Sinead Tinker was killed off in the ITV soap in 2019 after being diagnosed with cervical cancer and she is delighted that the harrowing storyline led to more women getting themselves checked for cervical cancer.
In an interview with the Daily Express newspaper, Katie said: "To have people message me and say, ‘I went to have a smear test because of what I saw happening to Sinead on Coronation Street', was just amazing.
"I had nurses calling, saying there had been an uptick in cervical cancer screening after the storyline went out. They said it had really made a difference.
"Soaps are brilliant at raising issues like that. It’s such an important platform."
Katie felt the storyline was more "relatable" because loyal 'Corrie' viewers were able to connect with her demise and that audiences were "shocked" because Sinead was so young.
She explained: "Because it was 'Corrie', which a lot of people tune into, which is in their living rooms day-to-day, it felt closer to people’s hearts.
"If it was in a movie, say, it would not have been so relatable. But because it was in 'Corrie', where people think they know the characters as they see them every week, it hit home more.
"Because Sinead was so young, it shocked a lot of people. But that just showed that it can happen to anyone. She got rid of the cancer once, but unfortunately it came back, which does happen. Cancer is still very much an issue. It’s literally destroying people’s lives, and it’s not going away."