Brookside and West End star Claire Sweeney is joining Coronation Street as Cassie, the long-lost daughter of Evelyn Plummer (Dame Maureen Lipman).
It has been confirmed that Claire, who is "beyond thrilled and very grateful" to be joining the Coronation Street cast, will start filming next week and her first appearance will be on June 28.
Fans of the soap will know that back in 2018 Tyrone went in search of his biological family after discovering that Jackie Dobbs, who had raised Tyrone from a baby, wasn't actually his birth mother.
Tyrone's search for the truth led him to Evelyn after working out that her daughter Cassandra was his biological mother.
Evelyn admitted that she had abandoned Tyrone at a police station in 1982 after not trusting Cassandra to look after him properly due to her drug habit.
He was then found by Jackie who brought him up as her own.
But there is a shock death twist coming in the storyline because until now, Tyone has always been told by Evelyn that Cassie is dead. So when she arrives on the cobbles in June, not only is Tyrone set to be stunned, but it looks like Evelyn might have some explaining to do!
Will she come clean to her grandson? Coronation Street has revealed: "Evelyn is faced with a real dilemma as she has to decide whether to come clean to Tyrone about her lies.
"Now Tyrone faces more heartache as secrets and lies from his past threaten to destroy his relationship with his grandma and he has to navigate a new relationship with his mother."
Speaking of her new role, Claire said: “Even though I’ve been lucky enough to have enjoyed an amazingly varied career for nearly 40 years — being cast in Coronation Street is, to me, better than being cast in a Hollywood movie!
"I’ve watched it all my life and can’t quite believe that I’ll now be stepping onto those famous cobbles myself.
"I was really nervous when I got the scripts to audition as this show means so much to me and my family and this is Corrie gold, I was beyond thrilled and very grateful when I got the call that Iain MacLeod is trusting me to play Tyrone's Mum and work alongside one of my heroes, Dame Maureen Lipman.
"Cassie is a character who is definitely going to make an impact — I just hope the audience will enjoy watching her as much as I'm going to be enjoying playing her!"
Coronation Street Producer Iain MacLeod added: "Claire bowled us over in her audition and the scenes with her, Tyrone and Evelyn will be electric.
"Her arrival will mark the start of a tumultuous time for Tyrone and the family and her impact will be felt across the street in the weeks and months that follow."
Coronation Street airs hour-long episodes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 pm on ITV — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on ITVX.
