'Coronation Street' star Catherine Tyldesley says the Aidan Connor suicide storyline has "saved lives".
Catherine Tyldesley
The 34-year-old actress - who has filmed her final scenes after seven years as Eva Price on the cobbles - opened up about the impact it had, and revealed she and former co-star and on-screen boyfriend Shayne Ward received messages from people helped by the show.
She told 'Good Morning Britain': "I think we're all in some way affected by suicide. Everybody knows somebody and there was a huge response, and what we have to keep in mind is that this storyline has helped hundreds of thousands of people and it saved lives.
"Shayne and I were getting messages from complete strangers saying, 'I tried to commit suicide' or, 'I'm feeling very depressed', and in turn we've referred them to the right people, which is amazing."
While Shayne left the soap following Aidan's death, Catherine's final scenes will play out over summer, and she promised an eventful exit.
She added: "Yes, two weeks ago now I filmed my last scene. I'm on screen until the start of August, and there's a lot crammed into that time, some brilliant stuff, some really good stories."
Catherine's character Eva has been in floods of tears on numerous occasions in recent months after her ex Aidan took his own life and she gave birth before giving her daughter away to Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor).
And she became emotional on her last day of filming recently, admitting there were tears on social media.
Catherine posted a shot of herself with Jane Danson and Georgia, who play her on-screen sisters Leanne and Toyah, on Instagram and wrote: "I thought I was emotionally stable till I saw this pic of me and my sisters at lunch today... Two of the most talented, funny, kind hearted women I've ever met. Love you both so much xxxxx #location (sic)"
Tagged in Jane Danson Shayne Ward