Corrie’s Simon Gregson was so sick of fame he almost took drastic action which would have changed his life forever

THE pressures of fame led Coronation Street’s Simon Gregson to turn to booze and drugs long before he spiralled into a public meltdown last week.

And now the actor who played the dad of his soap character Steve McDonald has revealed that his former co-star almost quit years ago after struggling in the spotlight.

Charlie Lawson, who has played the role of Jim McDonald on and off since 1989, said: “I know Simon found it very hard.

“He is still there, bless him — and he very nearly wasn’t. 

“He nearly had enough of it in the first few years.”

Dad-of-three Simon, who is paid £150,000 a year, was quizzed by police last Friday after a bust-up at a Toby Carvery near Aintree Racecourse following Ladies Day.

He had been seen drinking Guinness in a luxury suite at the racecourse.

It came just days after he was kicked out of a nightclub for dancing on a table topless while hurling abuse at staff during co-star Alexandra Mardell’s leaving do.

Charlie, 62, believes his soap pal was too young to handle fame when he first joined the show aged just 15 in 1989.

He said: “Simon had a hard time as he became one of the youngest and biggest stars on TV.

“It is very difficult when you have 20million viewers.

“Simon will tell you there were periods when he did not like what he was doing.

“In those days we only had four channels. So if you were a star in Corrie, everybody in Britain knew who you were and you were in the newspapers every day.”

Corrie veteran Beverley Callard, who played the McDonald family matriarch Liz McDonald, became a real-life mother figure to wayward Simon, Charlie says.

He revealed: “I let Bev do most of the lecturing. She was instrumental as he went through a time of, ‘Oh dear — you’re late again.’

“I was forever saying to him, ‘If you can’t go out all night and turn up on time, then don’t be doing it.’”

Simon, 47, has previously told how the pressures of being catapulted to fame as a teen in the ITV soap sent him off the rails.

Speaking in 2014, he recalled: “I’d go through a bottle of Scotch at four or 5am after the pub.

“I was spending all my salary going out or on cars. Sometimes I’d be two hours late for work. Other times I’d not be there at all.

“The cocaine use came hand in hand with the alcohol abuse. I started smoking marijuana first.

Simon had a hard time as he became one of the youngest and biggest stars on TV. It is very difficult when you have 20million viewers. Simon will tell you there were periods when he did not like what he was doing.

Corrie legend Charlie Lawson

“Reality wasn’t too great so this alternative reality with the use of substances was a better place to be.”

In 2007 the star received a drink-drive ban — and in January 2020 he vowed to continue boozing.

He wrote online: “I’ve now decided after years of drinking and making a fool of myself, plus of course the health implications of such debauchery, I’m gonna carry on.”

Now Charlie, who was last seen on the cobbles in October 2018 but was not killed off, thinks a return to Corrie could help his old friend.

He said: “I would love for the McDonalds to reunite.

‘Major downs’

“But I am not sure the writers would know what to do with Jim.

“He is an old beast from a different age and his conception of political correctness would be non-existent. I am not sure how he would fit into Corrie.

“I think the only way Jim would be back is with Steve.” Simon was just 15 when he was chosen as part of a search for two new cast members to join Corrie as the McDonald twins.

Steve McDonald’s brother Andy was played by Nicholas Cochrane for seven years until the character was axed in 1996.

Simon was chosen to partner with Cochrane, who was his classmate at school in Stockport, as they had similar looks.

He was introduced to a whole new audience when he checked into the I’m A Celebrity castle last year, finishing runner-up to Emmerdale star Danny Miller.

But fans suspected Simon was “still drunk” during a dishevelled TV appearance the morning after the final.

The soap star looked off camera and shouted “weirdos” and “love you” while answering questions from This Morning hosts Vernon Kay and Josie Gibson.

He has been married to former Hollyoaks actress Emma Gleave, 38, since 2010 and the couple have three sons together.

In an Instagram post to mark their tenth anniversary together, she admitted there had been difficult times in the relationship.

She wrote: “A journey filled with major ups, major downs and everything else in between!

“We always get back up though, Si.”