Coronation Street’s Kevin Kennedy encourages those struggling with alcohol to seek out help

Coronation Street’s Kevin Kennedy has discussed his battle with alcholism as he insisted that now is the time for people to get sober.

The actor, 58, who played Curly Watts on the soap from 1983 to 2003, admitted the phones ‘haven’t stopped ringing’ at his charity Kennedy St, which aims to help people battle their addiction to alcohol.  

Speaking on Monday’s episode of ITV’s Lorraine, he said: ‘We have a very small charity, Kennedy Street. Over the lockdown, our phones have not stopped ringing. It’s people who are self-medicating at home during the pandemic. 

‘Now is the perfect time to get sober. We’ve been doing fundraising and we need some help. I think we may lose more people through mental health problems than with the actual virus, the way things are going.’

‘There’s no judgement. We don’t judge anyone here. We’ve all been through it. That’s the secret of it. There’s a privacy to it. You can get help without having to do much. You are not on your own.’ 

Kevin previously admitted that he ‘always had a drink near’ as he battled his addiction during his time on the cobbles.

Speaking on a previous episode of Good Morning Britain, he said: ‘I was known as a maintenance drinker where I maintained a certain level of being drunk right through the day and that balance is quite hard to find. 

‘Sometimes if you went too far, you were visibly drunk but if you didn’t drink enough then you went into involuntary detox which is not very nice at all. So yeah, I always had a drink near or around me somewhere.’ 

During his chat with host Lorraine Kelly, Kevin reminisced on his wedding storyline in Coronation Street, which saw Curly tie the knot with Raquel Watts (Sarah Lancashire). 

He said: ‘There was so much interest in that story. The beauty of that story was that it was beautifully written. There was so much interest that Granada Television decided to keep it secret. It was a totally separate crew and director. 

Kevin admitted there was such secrecy around the storyline that he and Sarah were forbidden from telling any of their co-stars about it.  

He said: ‘Sarah and I were taken off somewhere. We filmed it in south Manchester and then went back to Granada and carried on with our normal episodes. Sarah and I were doing scenes in the Rovers but we were married but couldn’t let anyone know.

‘I think it was a very special time. 20 years and over 1,000 episodes. Once you’ve been involved in Coronation Street you’re an ambassador for life. People still remember it.’