Sue Cleaver did not know who her birth mother was until she had already started acting, making the bombshell discovery after a co-star said ‘she’s the spitting image of my wife’

Coronation Street’s Sue Cleaver has an adoption story that outdoes any drama on the show. She was adopted at just 10 days old, but years later in 1986, one of her co-workers would make a comment that, in an absurd twist of fate, brought her face to face with her biological mother.

It happened during her performance in ‘Oedipus’ at the Royal Exchange Theatre, when her co-star Michael Harbour was stunned by her resemblance to his wife when they first met. He told the stage manager: “Oh my God, she’s the spitting image of my wife when I met her.”

Despite the significant age difference, Sue, then 23, and Michael, who was 41, became good friends. In her new autobiography ‘A Work in Progress’, Corrie star Cleaver recalls her fascination with him. She said: “I was completely obsessed with him and fascinated by his stories about his family, I wasn’t sure why.”

During a cast lunch, Michael joked about Sue’s Northern pronunciation and then inquired about her birthplace and birthday. On discovering she was born on September 2, 1963, in Barnet and not the North as assumed, he called his wife Lesley with the revelation: “I’ve found her.”

Sue would learn that her birth mother, Lesley Sizer Grieve, had put her up for adoption as a 17 year old single mother, long before marrying Michael, reports the Mirror.

Sue, originally named Claire Grieve at birth, was adopted by a young couple, Fred and John Cleaver, and grew up with their five year old son Paul. Lesley and Michael went on to have two daughters who were unaware of their half-sister’s existence.

However, Michael knew that his wife had always wondered about her eldest child – the resemblance was undeniable and the dates aligned perfectly, leading him to believe he had found her.

Michael revealed the truth to Sue, saying: ‘You are my wife’s daughter,’ and arranged for her to meet Lesley in a hotel. Sue, best known for her role as Eileen Grimshaw, the feisty cab switchboard operator in Coronation Street, recalls: “The walk to the door felt like it went on forever. I felt such a mixture of anticipation, excitement, fear and adrenaline. We embraced and just talked and talked until 5am.

“It was almost like a love story. The first two weeks were very heady; we had to be around each other, we had to call each other. She never ever felt like my mum. My Mum who brought me up is [my] mum. But there was a definite attachment.”

Sadly, Lesley passed away at the start of the pandemic, but Sue adds: “I’ve got two lovely half-sisters. I’m close to them and I see Kate, the youngest one, quite a bit. My Mum and Dad were so welcoming; Lesley came to my father’s funeral. It’s very much like [we’re] part of a bigger family; it’s been lovely.”

Sue Nicholls, aged 61 and a regular on Coronation Street for almost a quarter of a century, has revealed an astonishing connection with her fellow cobbles’ actress Helen Worth (Gail Platt), who once shared a flat with Lesley. Recalling their past, Sue said: “She knew that Lesley had this child [she’d given up],” adding that, “And Helen is Godmother to one of my half-sisters! “.

As a panellist on ITV’s Loose Women, Sue shares that the revelation of having a sister did not impact her bond with her parents or her brother Paul. Ahead of her memoir release this Thursday, the actress said: “I’ve only ever had one mum and she was so warm and generous. There was no jealousy; she welcomed Lesley with open arms and told her she could visit anytime.”