Coronation Street actress Vicky Myers has played fan favourite DS Lisa Swain in the ITV serial drama since 2021 and the soap star has been through a lot to get to where she is now

Coronation Street star Vicky Myers has previously opened up about her tough battle with cancer amidst a challenging divorce. Diagnosed in the same year as her difficult separation, she put her acting aspirations on hold. Struggling to make ends meet, she took on ironing work and stepped back from the constant grind of auditions. Choosing stability over uncertainty, she worked a clerical job for two years, while also caring for her teenage daughter Meghan.

Vicky’s perseverance has clearly paid off she’s now not only a regular on Corrie but is also playing a pivotal role as DS Lisa Swain in the intriguing Joel Deering storyline. It’s the fourth character she’s portrayed on the beloved ITV drama, but it’s the first time she’s clinched a spot as a mainstay on the show. In an exclusive chat with the Mirror, Vicky shared her story of conquering health hurdles and a tough personal life to savour her current success.

Coronation Street actress Vicky Myers has played fan favourite DS Lisa Swain in the ITV serial drama since 2021(Image: ITV)

“I don’t know if it’s my previous medical history, but I am so proud to be here and just to be living each day to the full,” she said at the time. Reflecting on her personal lows, she shared: “When my husband and I split up, I was quite down, bitter and vengeful, and when I was told I had [cancer], I remember thinking, ‘If this is it for me, I’ve missed out on all this time with my daughter and I haven’t really been the best person that I wanted to be.’ The diagnosis re-centred me and made me focus on what is really important and what makes me happy. Now, every time I go into work and see the Coronation Street sign, it’s quite overwhelming.”

Vicky has been popping up as the hard-nosed DS Swain for the last three years, delving into the acid attack on Daisy Midgeley and Stephen Reid’s reign of terror. However, soap chiefs have now promoted her to a full-time role, and she’s under the spotlight after nicking Roy on suspicion of murder, following the vanishing of teen Lauren Bolton.

This is a stark contrast from 2010 when her world was flipped upside down, and she found herself a single mother. Just a few months on, medics spotted a dubious mark by chance while she was accompanying her nephew for a medical examination.

Vicky joined the Corrie cast as DS Swain in 2021

“My nephew has a heart condition,” she shared. “As we were about to leave, the doctor asked, ‘Can I have a look at that mark on your leg? ‘ Within five days I was in hospital. I had on three-quarter length combat trousers that day. You can roll them up into shorts, which I did in the car just before the appointment, because it was a really hot June day. It’s quite incredible to think that if it had been a miserable day the doctor would never have seen the little dark mark on my calf. I definitely had an angel watching over me that day.”

Medics discovered she had skin cancer and her former partner stepped in to look after their daughter Meghan while she recovered from reconstructive surgery. After half a year, she attempted to return to auditions, but by 2013, worn out by the relentless rejection, she chose to abandon her acting ambition.

“I felt financially, mentally and physically I needed a break just to breathe,” she recalled. “Being an actress was tough. Sometimes the phone didn’t ring, or I wasn’t chosen for a role. It was incredibly stressful and I did whatever it took to pay the bills, even ironing for others. You tell yourself it’s not your time yet, but that doesn’t make things easier when you have children and bills I just couldn’t make it work.”

Vicky has previously opened up about her tough battle with cancer amidst a challenging divorce(Image: ITV)

Vicky found employment in a casting house, observing as others auditioned for parts. “I knew I was going to return,” she said. “Of course, I kept thinking, ‘I need to secure a permanent full-time job’. But I didn’t. Some might label that as stupidity or arrogance, but I would never have been content full-time in an office job.”

In 2016, she landed her big break in the Harlan Coben series The Five, followed by Channel 4’s Ackley Bridge and The Long Shadow. However, her ultimate dream was always to be on Coronation Street. Vicky, hailing from Stockport, Greater Manchester, shares: “In the North, as soon as you mention you’re an actress, people ask, ‘Oh, have you been in Coronation Street? ‘ Now I can proudly say I have. On my first day, I walked down the cobbles and I thought, ‘I recognise you.’ I’ve grown up watching the show, so it feels like home.”

Her ambition was sparked as the daughter of pub landlords in Stockport. After leaving school she worked in telesales and by the age of 20 she was married with a baby. She reminisced: “After that I did all sorts of jobs, I was a cleaner, I worked behind a bar, I was a waitress. But when I was holding my daughter, I thought, ‘Do I ever want to say to her when she’s older, I wish I’d done this…’ You lead by example, so I decided to make this dream become a reality. I picked up a copy of Yellow Pages and found the number of an acting and modelling agency.”

Incredibly, Vicky landed her first role in Corrie, as she disclosed: “I was in scenes with Denise Welch and Phil Middlemiss, who played Natalie and Des Barnes. I was playing a nurse and it was the episode where Des died. Watching Denise, learning the jargon and etiquette, was amazing; money can’t buy that kind of experience.”

Her return to the soap was frequent she popped up again in 2007 as a paramedic and later in 2010 as a driver who assists Tyrone Dobbs after a car crash. Although a steady role proved elusive at first, Vicky never gave up hope, often skipping holidays and nights out to chase her acting ambitions.

Vicky never gave up hope, often skipping holidays and nights out to chase her acting ambitions (Image: ITV)

With her daughter Meghan now grown up, Vicky marvels at her path to success. She even chuckled over an incident where her character Swain copped flak: “When Swain arrested Kelly Neelan for the hate crime storyline, I got shouted at in the street for arresting the wrong person,” Vicky laughed.

“It made me realise the enormity of Coronation Street and how viewers are so heavily invested in this iconic show. It’s taken me a while to get here, but it’s literally a dream come ‘true’.”

Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX