Coronation Street's Simon Gregson is inundated with support from fans as he issues health update

By SEAN O'GRADY FOR MAILONLINE 08:45 05 Nov 2024, updated 08:49 05 Nov 2024

• Have YOU got a story? Email tips@dailymail.com 

Simon Gregson was inundated with well wishes from friends and followers after he issued a health update on social media. 

The Coronation Street star, 50, took to Instagram on Monday and told how he had been struck down with a case of the flu.

The actor who plays Steve McDonald on the ITV soap, was participating in the Sotheby's London to Brighton veteran car run when his vehicle  broke down. 

But Simon was determined to finish the race and switched cars to continue the run. 

Speaking in a video, he said: 'Car didn't make it, which was fortuitous because neither have I, I am full of man flu. 

'I thought I could make it, I couldn't so I'm tucked up in a very nice hotel where I am going to sleep and hopefully be alright.'

Simon was inundated with supportive comments, including from Claire Sweeney who wrote: 'Ah gutted you didn’t make it. Get well soon'.

Fellow Coronation Street actress Angela Lonsdale wrote: 'Get better soon darlin x x'.

Others added: 'Aw get well soon - my husbands just beaten the evilness of man flu but he didn't moan about it once....not once...ahem'.

'Good effort mate! Well done, and get well soon x'... 'GWS dude! At least you had fun before the sickness overwhelmed'. 

'Feel better soon'... 'Get well soon!'... 'Get well soon there Simon'. 

It comes after Simon revealed that shooting to fame on the soap had a detrimental effect on his mental health.

The actor first appeared in the ITV soap in December 1989 when he was just 15-years-old, and instantly became a household name as millions of viewers tuned in to watch his exploits as tearaway teen Steve McDonald.

However, at the time, the soap offered no support for young actors joining the huge show like they do now, with Simon - who joined alongside Nicholas Cochrane who played his twin brother Andy - admitting he felt like he was 'dropped in the middle of the ocean'.

Speaking to YouTube channel DEEP, set up by ex LADbible executives Ben Powell-Jones and Thom Gulseven, Simon discussed the impact joining the show at that time had on him, revealing that the thought of his own kids going through what he went through makes him very 'upset'.

Speaking about his and co-star Nicholas' rise to fame, he shared: 'We were massive overnight and it was very odd and it was hard to compute for a young man. But there was no help!'

Simon went on to say that nowadays when people are cast on the soap, they are sat down and have the implications of being on TV explained to them, with the show informing them about things like press interest, fan reactions, the impact on families and potential criticism of the role.

He added: 'But with us, there was nothing. So we were kind of dropped in the middle of the ocean at fifteen and left to swim to shore.'

On how he suffered mentally as a result, Simon continued: 'It had a massive impact on my mental health, looking back. It makes me very upset for the only reason that I've got kids the same age now and the thought of them going through what I went through is horrible. It's not nice.'

The soap star, who has played the role of Steve for 35 years, shared that his father was a policeman and as a result he got therapy through the police.

However, it admitted that those therapists 'didn't know what to do with it' and had 'no idea' how to counsel him through the struggles with fame.

Simon told how it was years later, in 2015, when he got a therapist and started to work on his issues, with the star stating: 'I realised it was okay not to be okay.

'Because I kept talking about it, he [the therapist' was like "this has been pretty s**t for you" and I was like "yeah! It has a bit actually".'

Simon added that at the time, any bad publicity he got was 'good publicity' and that he couldn't do anything wrong.

He added: 'I was getting paid so I stayed. I stayed yeah, and got very drunk! That seemed to help quite a lot!'