Inside Corrie’s Simon Gregson’s hellish booze and drugs battle – all-night benders, driving bans and 5am whisky sessions

HE'S a Weatherfield stalwart, having played a teen heartthrob, womaniser and now long-suffering husband to Tracy Barlow.

But Steve McDonald actor Simon Gregson's life away from Coronation Street has seen its own fair share of drama.

Last week the 47-year-old star was quizzed by police after an alleged bust-up following a boozy day out at Aintree.

Bouncers allegedly pinned him to the ground following the altercation outside a Toby Carvery, opposite the Grand National racecourse, reports . 

It came just a week after The Sun On Sunday revealed Simon was asked to leave a Manchester bar after taking off his shirt and dancing on a platform at a co-star's leaving do.

Here we reveal how the party-loving star has struggled with alcohol and cocaine abuse in the past - but refuses to jack in his beloved booze.

Downing bottles of scotch at 5am

Simon, who makes £150,000 a year on Corrie, was just 14 years old when he was cast in the soap, and felt the pressure of becoming an overnight celebrity almost immediately.

He told how fans would sent bras and saucy notes in the post and wait outside his house – meaning he often resorting to extreme escape plans to meet mates.

"It was mad walking down the street. Going anywhere was difficult," he told in 2014.

Whenever Simon, the son of a Stockport policeman, tried to go on nights out, he claimed he experienced “a lot of violence” from “jealous” men. 

“I’d be spat at and beaten up every other weekend. It was ridiculous. Just because I was the kid off the telly,” he recalled.

Simon started hanging out in swanky celebrity hotspots to avoid the carnage, and over time it became a nightly habit. 

He would pay for all his friends to join him, explaining he knew some people "used him" but it was better than going alone.

I’d be spat at and beaten up every other weekend. It was ridiculous. Just because I was the kid off the telly

Simon Gregson

As time went on his alcohol consumption vastly increased and he admitted getting “dangerously drunk”. 

He said: “I went completely wild. I’d pay for everyone to stay in hotel suites. I’d go through a bottle of Scotch at 4 or 5am after the pub.”

It impacted Simon’s work; he often turned up two hours late, and sometimes didn't make it onto set at all.

He told how the exhaustion from late-night partying meant he would “fall asleep constantly" in the green room in between scenes.

Simon added: “I hated being famous, I’m not proud of my behaviour but getting wasted was a way of forgetting.”

Simon blamed a lack of self-confidence on his decision to drink until 4am, which often happened before co-hosting The Big Breakfast Live with Zoe Ball and Dannii Minogue in 1996.

“I was in a very dark, lonely place. I didn’t say anything a lot of the time. Zoe did most of the talking… The whole country saw me having a mental breakdown,” he added.

Cast fallouts

Simon’s constant lateness led to spats on set and eventually disciplinary meetings with the Coronation Street team. 

The most riled co-star was Charlie Lawson, who played his on-screen dad Jim McDonald - although in later years he claimed they were “inseparable”.

Simon said: “We didn’t get on very well… me being late annoyed him. Charlie was a big guy and I was frightened he would shout at me.”

After patching things up, Simon opened up to his clueless co-star about what he was going through, which helped smooth things over.

'Coke made me a w****r'

Simon’s drinking escalated to the point where he felt he needed something more, which led him to use marijuana and cocaine regularly.

He said the substances created an alternative reality which was a "better place" to be in, and he spent a small fortune on the drugs.

Simon added that it changed him as a person, and looking back in sober moments at what he'd said and done, he'd think "God what a w*****".

He said: “Overconfidence coupled with a lot of Scotch turned me into a complete a***hole.”

The actor’s turbulent lifestyle led to a series of driving bans for both drinking and speeding.

The turning point came when he woke up in a room full of strangers. Afterwards he didn't recognise his gaunt face looking in the mirror - having lost a stone – and the dark bags around his eyes.

His drug habit was exposed to the public in 1995, and he quit cocaine for good.

'Loves stripping'

By 2010, Simon claimed he was in greater control of his drinking after marrying his long-term partner Emma Gleave, with whom he shares three children.

Emma, whose Instagram bio reads: “You can usually find me in the nearest Jäger selling establishment”, regularly shares snaps of the pair enjoying a tipple.

Simon hit the headlines in 2017 while celebrating his 45th birthday, when he gave a drag performance without his shirt on and wore a sequin wing collar.

In 2020 he raised eyebrows with a tweet about ditching plans to give up alcohol - despite his issues in the past.

Simon wrote: “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.”

This came in spite of fans’ warnings about their own experiences, including one person whose wife needed 20 tablets a day after suffering liver cirrhosis.

Wild parties

Since his stint on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! - where he came runner-up - Simon has run into trouble on a couple of boozy nights out.

Earlier this month he was chucked out of a club after taking things “a bit far” when he whipped his top off in a Manchester club.

A source, who was at the bash for departing Alexandra Mardell, who played his on-screen daughter Emma Brooker, told The Sun: “It annoyed the bar staff and bouncers in the end.”

Another claimed: “Simon was acting pretty wildly… he was in high spirits and getting carried away. Towards the end of the night, Simon obviously thought it was a good idea to jump up for a topless dance. He was on a piece of furniture using it as a type of makeshift stage.”

A video of Simon dancing without his shirt emerged, and when partygoers began to boo and shout abuse, he was approached by members of staff.

According to a lip-reading expert, Simon could be seen apparently saying “f**k” and then “f**k you” as the two members of staff tried to calm him down.

The second incident, which happened on Aintree's Ladies Day on Friday, followed Guinness-swilling Simon being pictured with a roster of celebrities including Zara and Mike Tindall, Dion Dublin, Jason Manford and Olympic heptathlete Kelly Sotherton.

A source who witnessed the altercation later on claimed Simon was taken into a police van for questioning, and described it as "all very messy".