Remember Claire and Ashley Peacock? Here’s what the Coronation Street stars look like 11 years on

IT’S been 18 years since actress Julia Haworth burst onto Coronation Street as mousy Claire Casey.

Although she initially joined as Ashley Peacock’s new nanny for son Joshua, it wasn’t long before the character fell for her employer and married into the fictional family.

Despite being at the centre of many controversial story lines for the Manchester based soap, the actress has dropped off the radar in recent years.

Her last appearance on the cobbles was in January 2011 – nine months after it was announced her character had been axed.

After leaving the show, Julia went a little quiet on the acting front until she returned to our TV screens in 2018 as Laura Wade in BBC soap, Doctors.

Earlier this year, she appeared in the second series of ITV drama, The Bay and an episode of Call the Midwife.

RAISING AWARENESS

Away from acting, Julia has been busy working with various acting academies for children and also helping raise awareness for epidermolysis bullosa.

The married mother-of-two became a patron for a charity supporting the skin condition after watching Channel 4 documentary The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off.

Julia said: “As a parent, all you want to do when your child is poorly is give them a big squeeze and let them know that everything will be ok.

"But if you have a child with EB, you can't do that.

"Despite this, the parents I have met are so incredible and so strong.”

RETIREMENT

Her on-screen hubby Ashley Peacock, played by Steven Arnold, hasn't been seen on screen as much in recent years.

The 41-year-old played the lovable butcher on the ITV soap for 15 years before being killed off in the soap’s dramatic tram crash story line to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2010.

Steven went on to star on Dancing On Ice in 2011 - but still has moments where he misses his alter ego.

Speaking to Gaby Roslin on Lorraine, he said: “I do, he’ll always have a special place in my heart as I played him for such a long time.

“There’s elements that you miss but you can still put him in characters that you play here and there.”

He retired from acting soon after his appearance on Dancing on Ice but appeared alongside Julia on a celebrity edition of Pointless in 2020.