Coronation Street’s Maureen Lipman says ‘her heart is cracking’ as partner dies after coronavirus ‘weakened him’
CORONATION Street's Maureen Lipman has revealed her heartache after her partner Guido Castro died.
The actress, 74, said her "heart is cracking" after 84-year-old Guido, who had a form of Parkinson's Disease, passed away at his respite home on Thursday.
Maureen told the Mail: "He got Covid – it wasn't Covid that killed him but it weakened him terribly.
"We don't know how he got it or when or if he had it when he got the vaccine."
The couple had been together for 13 years.
Maureen was previously married to award-winning screenwriter and playwright Jack Rosenthal, who died in 2004.
Just days ago the star revealed she was taking a secret break from Coronation Street until she gets her Covid-19 jab.
The star, who plays battleaxe Evelyn Plummer, said she is on a “sabbatical” from the ITV soap.
Maureen said: “Well it has been a time that I can't personally complain about except on behalf of the people who have not been as fortunate.
“I continued in Coronation Street after the first initial lockdown. I went back. I am still officially working on it except that I am taking a bit of sabbatical until I get my vaccination at the moment.”
But she was allowed to film Celebrity Gogglebox with pal Gyles Brandreth, 72.
She told the Outspoken Beauty podcast: “Then they kindly allowed me to be engulfed by Gyles Brandreth on the Gogglebox series.
“I had no idea what it was until I got into it. I thought I would be some sort of pundit. I have always admired that genre but it was basically looking at willies.
“I cannot complain about lockdown. I have been writing stuff. I have been doing drama classes on Zoom with my grandchildren which is hysterical.
“I went for a walk in Hyde Park with Rula Lenska. She managed to bring a flask of coffee which managed to be cold. We never stop talking and that is very nice.
“My lockdown has not been too much of a problem. If I lived in a flat with kids and no outside I think I would go mad. I have done a lot of Zooms but I still feel I am not doing anything, I am not doing anything to help.”
It comes after she feared she had spread the virus on the show.
Last May she admitted: “I believe myself to have had a mild form of coronavirus masquerading as a fortnight’s persistent cough, with attached fatigue and sweats.
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“If I did have it, then I flung my viral breath cheerfully around the Coronation Street corner shop at anyone who popped in for a bag of crisps and a confrontation.”
Later she told of her reaction when hearing reports she was the ‘Covid spreader’, saying: “Immediately I rang my agent and said, ‘How can they say it’s me. I’m bl***dy well not’.”
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And last summer she told how she couldn’t be with her Italian businessman partner Guido because of his long-term health issues.
Maureen, who became a Dame in the latest Queen’s Birthday Honours, said: “Guido and I have been apart recently – we couldn’t self-isolate together because of his health – but I feel lucky that we have that.”