I wrote a poem at 14 about being on Corrie and now I’m on the cobbles, says Stephanie Davis
IT’S been three years since Stephanie Davis quit her acting career to concentrate on raising her young son after a turbulent time in the limelight.
At her lowest, the former Hollyoaks star was drinking three bottles of wine a day and was “dragged” to rehab by her parents, who feared for her life.
Yet now the self-described “comeback queen” has won a role in Coronation Street with the first audition she did after going back to work.
Stephanie signed with a new acting agent this year and said her dream was to be on Corrie.
Two days later she was presented with the perfect role — as married seductress Courtney Vance.
Mum-of-one Stephanie, 30, said: “You know when you have that feeling, ‘This is too good to be true, everything is happening too quick’? This was my first audition back after three years.
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“As soon as I read the brief for the character I was like, ‘This is mine. This is mine’.
“I did the audition then went through this wave of emotions.
“I do believe everything happens for a reason, but my first audition back? No one gets that.”
It is an opportunity she has been dreaming about since childhood.
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She said: “I wrote a poem when I was about 13 or 14, which read, ‘One day I will be on the cobbles of Coronation Street’.
“My mum had put it in her bedside drawer and got it out the other day.
“She said, ‘How amazing is that?
“You wrote that as a child as one of your dreams and now you’re doing it’.
“It really is a dream come true.”
Stephanie shot to fame after taking part in BBC One talent show Over The Rainbow in 2010, when she was 17.
It was trying to find a performer to play Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz on stage.
Her performances impressed bosses at Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks, who invited her to audition.
She joined that year as teenage tearaway Sinead O’Connor and was at the centre of some of the show’s biggest storylines.
But as her acting career went from strength to strength her boozy antics off-screen caught up with her.
She was dramatically sacked from the soap in 2015 after arriving on set “unfit for work”.
Two years later she checked herself into rehab for alcohol addiction after several suicide attempts.
You know when you have that feeling, ‘This is too good to be true, everything is happening too quick’? This was my first audition back after three years.
Stephanie says her mental health spiralled down after appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, and her worried parents Pauline and Roy had to intervene.
Stephanie previously said: “I was so low.
“I was drinking myself to death.
“I was so mentally abused and physically tortured.”
She went on: “I was drinking every day, probably three bottles of wine in the morning.
“I got told I had trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I was skin and bone.
“I was broken and I was scared to say it.
“I didn’t want to live and that’s why I was drinking. I wanted to die.
“I was so suicidal and I kept trying to kill myself.”
She added: “I got dragged to rehab by my parents.
“My mental health was so bad, it wasn’t just addiction.
“That’s when a consultant psychiatrist told me I had high-functioning autism, as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“When I got the diagnosis I didn’t really understand what it meant.
“But as soon as I did my research I was like, ‘Whoa, that is me’.
“It made me accept myself for the first time and start to look forward.
“It was the biggest relief.”
Following eight weeks in rehab she returned to Hollyoaks in 2018.
But after two years she made the decision to leave to spend more time with her young son Caben, who is now six.
When she discovered she was about to head to the famous cobbles, Stephanie, who lives in Liverpool with Caben and her boyfriend Joe Mckalroy, 27, a pharmaceuticals worker, burst into tears.
She said this week: “The phone rang, it was my agent and I got it.
“I was like, ‘What?!’
“It didn’t sink in and then I started crying.
‘TV is where I belong’
“She said, ‘Why are you crying? You should be happy’.
“I just couldn’t believe how quick it had all happened and I’m so grateful.
“I grew up with Coronation Street on the television in the home.
“On my first day on set, the first scene I filmed was in The Rovers, which was amazing.
“I always said to my mum and to my partner, ‘I can’t wait to be on set and hear ‘Action’.
“I took a little video of myself when I heard it.
“I could have cried, I was so happy.
“I’ve been in TV since such a young age and it’s all I know.
“It’s like being back at home where I belong.”
Stephanie, who is still in therapy but has turned her back on drugs and alcohol, arrives in Weatherfield this month as Courtney, the wife of Darren, who is played by Ryan Early.
He is a business associate of shopkeeper Dev Alahan.
Dev, played by Jimmi Harkishin, persuades him to give his teenage son Aadi a job.
I’m going to let Caben watch the first few episodes and then after that we’ll have to wait and see. It will depend what episodes they are.
But with Courtney in a loveless marriage, it is not long before the “minx” is enjoying secret romps with Aadi, played by Sam Hussain.
And although some of her scenes are too raunchy for Caben to watch, he will be tuning in for his mum’s Corrie debut.
Stephanie said: “I’m going to let him watch the first few episodes and then after that we’ll have to wait and see. It will depend what episodes they are.
“She’s doing a lot of kissing with Aadi, so probably not those bits, but he can watch me join in.
“We’re all going to get together with my family.
“We’re going to have a night in my home and watch the first two episodes.”
Stephanie is enjoying the stability of a full-time job and credits Joe and mum Pauline, 56, for chipping in with childcare.
She said: “My Corrie schedule is so good, and I’ve never had this before.
“You find out on the Friday before what you’re doing for the following week, whereas I’m used to finding out the night before.
"Joe is a massive help and so is my mum, so we’re doing breakfast club or afterschool club.
“Joe will get Caben from school or, if he’s in work, my mum will help out.
“Because I had been with Caben constantly, it’s weird not being with him throughout the day.
“But he’s at a really good age now and those younger years go so fast, I wanted to spend time with him because I didn’t when I was filming previously.
“I’ve had an amazing few years with him 24/7 but I’m made up to be getting back to what I love.
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“There are so many layers to explore with Courtney and she’s certainly made herself at home.
“I’d love to see her stick around.”
