Corrie star Simon Gregson reveals he’s lost 11 babies with wife Emma as plot mirrors Kym’s Marsh’s agony
Kym Marsh bravely opened up about losing her own baby after her character's harrowing storyline - and now on-screen partner has revealed his own baby heartbreak
KYM MARSH bravely opened up about losing her own baby after her Corrie character Michelle Connor’s harrowing stillbirth storyline.
Now her on-screen partner SIMON GREGSON has spoken of his own heartbreak over losing 11 babies with wife Emma.
Speaking about the tragic scenes, Simon, who plays Steve McDonald, said: “Me and Emma have lost children. First one at 21 weeks and four days.
“As a bloke being there and witness to all this, you feel completely helpless. Your wife, who’s carried the baby and has not given birth . . .
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“Then there’s all the stuff that goes along with being a human being, the chemical reaction, everything that goes on in your brain, the hormones, all that kind of stuff.
“The bloke’s completely helpless. What’s he supposed to do but support? So men and women grieve differently for all sorts of things.”
Kym said she was keen for the soap to avoid using the term “late miscarriage” in scripts after her experience in hospital.
She explained: “That was one of the things that really annoyed and angered me because I had just given birth to a baby.
“I didn’t miscarry my baby, I gave birth to him. Why is there no birth certificate? The clue is in the name — birth certificate — and I have just given birth.
“What? Because he didn’t survive? What is that? When I am not here any more, nobody will know that my baby existed.
“That is the thing that upsets a lot of women, that thing that they can’t have a birth certificate.
“There are a lot of babies that do survive from 22, 23 weeks, they are allowed a birth certificate.
“I have had tweets from women saying they hate the term ‘late miscarriage’.
“Bloody hell, the midwives and the nurses do a brilliant job and they must see tragic things day in and day out, and it is not their fault. But it is all so clinical sometimes.”
Kym was devastated when she lost her baby boy Archie with ex-husband JAMIE LOMAS after giving birth 18 weeks early in 2009.
Despite the loss, Kym was glad she did the storyline and consulted on the script. She said: “I am very glad we chose to do this and the decision was very much left in my hands.
“They invited me to go home and speak about it with my mum and the children. That’s what I did.
“I remember having quite a long conversation with my mum and she said to me, ‘What is your gut instinct because that’s usually the right one?’. I said it was to do this and she asked why. And I said, ‘Because I’ve always tried to do my bit for charities that fund research or help people to discuss and talk and heal around baby loss.’
“And also to honour my son, to be quite frank, because when you lose a baby it’s something you learn to deal with. And something you learn to accept. And learning to accept what’s happened to you only comes from talking.”
Reliving the traumatic birth scene was the biggest challenge for Kym and Simon.
The special effects team that worked on JOHNNY DEPP movie Pirates Of The Caribbean were drafted in to to make a prosthetic baby. Kym said: “I’d heard a lot about how real this baby was. I specifically said I didn’t want to see the baby until we do the take.
“I know how realistic these things are and I just thought, for performance purposes, when I see that baby for the first time I want it to be as real as I can possibly make it.
“I absolutely dared myself to go there. So neither of us had seen the baby.”
I think they’ve been extremely brave in doing these scenes.
Enders forgets sisters
ROXY and Ronnie Mitchell were a staple on EastEnders for the best part of a decade until they were killed off on New Year’s Day.
But the actresses behind the characters, RITA SIMONS and SAMANTHA WOMACK have been stunned by how quickly they’ve been wiped from the show’s memory.
During Tuesday night’s episode they broke cover.
Rita, who played feisty barmaid Roxy, tweeted: “Is ANYONE mourning Roxy on the Square? Poor cow.”
And Sam, who played Ronnie, retweeted a shady fan account who said: “The 10yrs R&R have had has been forgotten in a week.”
Lots of fans agreed with the departed duo.
Their characters drowned on Ronnie’s wedding day, as I revealed would happen.
A show source said: “Sam and Rita never really wanted to leave but they thought their legacy might extend beyond seven days.”
After her final episode, Rita, whose uncle is LORD SUGAR, said she wouldn’t consider a role on another soap. She said: “My heart is probably always going to be with EastEnders.”
Not any more . . .
Fave is leaving
FROM starring in Hollyoaks’ first same sex-wedding to his character’s heart-warming relationship with best friend Craig Dean, JAMES SUTTON is a soap favourite.
But I can reveal that the popular actor is quitting the Channel 4 show after starring as John Paul McQueen since 2006.
“It’s going to be the perfect way to see off almost a decade of John Paul on our screens.
“Show chiefs aren’t necessarily saying his exit is for good and they are leaving the door open.
“But for now this is the last people will see of John Paul for the foreseeable future.”
Good luck to James with whatever he does next.