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Corrie’s Jane Danson opens up about own baby heartbreak

She suffered a miscarriage

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Coronation Street’s Jane Danson appeared on Loose Women today to discuss her role as Leanne Battersby.

She talked to hosts Ruth Langsford, Stacey Solomon, Penny Lancaster and Jane Moore about having played Leanne for 20 years, and also opened up about having suffered a miscarriage.

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Her character is currently at the centre of a plot in which Leanne has had Steve McDonald’s baby.

Steve was married to Lee’s mate Michelle Connor at the time and their ill-advised drunken one-night stand resulted in Leanne falling pregnant with baby Oliver.

Michelle had no idea her hubby had fathered the child because they all pretended Nick Tilsley was the father.

Meanwhile, Michelle fell pregnant herself, but tragically lost her baby boy, Ruairi at 23 weeks.

The storyline was made all-the-more poignant given actress Kym Marsh, who plays Michelle, lost her own son, Archie, in similar circumstances.

Simon Gregson (Steve) also opened up at the time that he and his wife had suffered multiple miscarriages, and now Jane has revealed she too lost a baby.

Discussing how she dealt with it, she told the ladies:

“That was something I chose to keep to myself because it was my own personal journey.”

Jane went on to explain how the actors felt when the storyline was put to them.

“We knew with what we’d been through it was going to be tough.

“Because I didn’t talk about it, it got me talking about it.

“Kym was incredibly supportive even though she’d been through an incredibly awful experience herself.”

Jane also revealed she’s still loving life on Corrie even after all these years, and she’s even more thrilled her on-screen sister, Toyah Battersby, has returned to the show.

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Actress Georgia Taylor, who plays Toyah, filmed a video clip for Jane congratulating her on 20 years on the soap.

“I love her to bits,” Jane said after she’d watched it.


Carena Crawford
Associate Editor (Soaps)