Coronation Street has seen a number of real-life family members appear on the cobbles over the years – but fans were left stunned after realising two stars are mother and son
Coronation Street stars have more in common than just their shared screen time, with several real-life family members gracing the cobbles over the years.
The ITV soap has seen siblings, cousins, and even parent-child duos sharing the set. Among them are cousins Brooke Vincent and Ellie Leach, and the late Rick Neelan (Greg Wood), who was the real-life brother of footballer Tommy Orpington (Matt Milburn). But they’re not the only ones with off-screen familial ties.
Fans were recently surprised to learn about a mother-son duo who appeared on the soap decades ago. Sue Jenkins, who joined the cast as Gloria Todd in 1985, worked alongside Julie Goodyear, who famously played landlady Bet Lynch.
Besides her Corrie role, Sue also portrayed Jackie Corkhill in Brookside from 1992 to 2001 and appeared in Emmerdale in 2008 as Bonnie Drinkwater. However, it’s her real-life son, Richard Fleeshman – known for his role as Craig Harris – that has left fans stunned.
Richard joined Coronation Street in 2002 as part of the Harris family, who were under witness protection, and his character had some significant storylines, reports the Daily Star.
He adopted a goth lifestyle, much to his father’s disapproval, and became Rosie Webster’s (portrayed by Helen Flanagan ) first boyfriend. The drama escalated when Katy Harris, Craig’s sister, murdered their father following a heated argument about her clandestine relationship with Martin Platt.
Their mother, Angela Harris, attempted to protect Katy, but the guilt was too much for Katy and she took her own life. After these events, Craig planned to flee to Berlin with Rosie, but ultimately left alone, bidding farewell to the cobbles in 2006 for good.
The revelation of Sue and Richard’s time on Corrie left fans online stunned. On X, previously known as Twitter, one viewer posted about Sue’s stint on Corrie. Another fan responded: “That’s Richard fleeshmans mum!”
Someone else commented: “Wow, all this time watching and I never knew that, I can see her son in that photo now.” A third joined the conversation, stating: “Her real life son played Craig Harris, son of Psycho Tommy!”
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX
