Coronation Street’s Katie McGlynn reveals she gained a stone in weight due to stress of Sinead Tinker storyline
CORONATION Street star Katie McGlynn has revealed how she gained a stone in weight during filming.
The soap actress, 26, admitted to putting on weight after becoming so invested in character Sinead Tinker’s cancer storyline.
Katie bowed out of the ITV soap during Friday’s heartwrenching episode, as Sinead finally lost her battle to cervical cancer.
But filming the heart wrenching scenes weren’t without its struggles, with Katie often reaching for junk food and takeaways because she became so emotionally entrenched in the part.
The star told the Sunday Mirror: “The emotion involved in Sinead dying meant I was just grabbing food and not really thinking about good nutrition.
“I was so tired when I got home that I’d order a takeaway. On set, there were a lot of chocolates, flap jacks and treats flying around.”
Soap bosses offered the actress counselling, but it was only until leaving that Katie felt the toll of the demanding role.
She continued: “I was sitting on my sofa watching the programme in which Sinead is told she has weeks to live, and I started to cry.
“The next day I just kept crying. I couldn’t stop. I ended up going to see a counsellor who told me that I was mourning Sinead.
“A month later I still feel like I’m really mourning her. It feels like waves of sadness coming over me.
“One minute I’ll be all right, then the next I’m in tears. It might sound weird, but to me Sinead has always been real.”
Earlier this month, Katie revealed her parents had decided not to watch Sinead’s final scenes.
Despite her exceptional performance , mum Ruth and dad Trevor found it difficult to watch the harrowing cancer storyline.
She told the Daily Star: “I’ve not been able to watch any of it with my family. My mum’s been really struggling watching it and my dad’s already said that he’s definitely not going to watch it.
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“My mum is very similar to me. She’s watched Sinead and she’s a massive fan of the show. She feels sad about the story and it’s me, her daughter dying, and I think she’s upset that I’m leaving.”
Katie continued: “My dad has already said that he doesn’t want to watch his daughter die on TV. He’s very black and white. He’ll probably just go in his garage, he’s got loads of motorbikes. He’s an engineer and he likes messing about with them.”
The actress, who joined the soap in 2013, watched her character’s emotional final moments in the arms of her husband Daniel, played by Rob Mallard, on Friday night.
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