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Alcoholic Corrie star reveals he only quit booze when death called

Not even the actor's family could stop him

Coronation Street’s Curly Watts was known for his jokey and lovable character in the soap.

However, the actor who portrayed him – Kevin Kennedy – was suffering a painful battle with alcoholism.

He has now admitted that he always “had a drink to hand” on the set of the show, which he left in 2003.

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Kevin appeared on Good Morning Britain to talk to Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard about his battle.

The 55-year-old told the presenters: “A balance is hard to find.

“When you went too far, you were visibly drunk, but if I did not drink I’d go into detox, so yeah, I always had a drink near.”

He later added: “There were many times I thought. ‘I must stop now.’

“But I always found an excuse to go back.”

Kevin has now been sober for 18 years, and revealed that it was only the prospect of death that made him stop. Not even his family could make him give up alcohol before that.

He went to rehab in 1998 and hasn’t touched a drop since.

Talking about how hard it was, he said: “It was difficult.

“I was grieving for drink – I had a long and successful relationship with it.

“I was in love with it. When I wasn’t drinking, I was thinking about it.”

Last month, Kevin praised Coronation Street bosses for saving him from his addiction.

He told This Morning: “I was a high functioning alcoholic.

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“I was drinking 24 hours a day, I was a maintenance drinker. It was hard to keep myself at this level.

“It was vodka at this point, I would drink in the studio because there was a lot of time we were hanging around.”

With the actor opening up, it will give other addicts a chance of hope.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor