Coronation Street’s Antony Cotton, who plays Sean Tully in the Manchester-set soap, has confessed that he wants to work on the show until he “drops dead”.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Antony was asked about a potential exit storyline for his character and his response was to jokingly suggest that he wanted them to “deal with it”.
“I literally want to come to work one day, however old I am, drop dead at work, cart me off, fine, gone.
“Just drop dead on set and let them deal with it, because it won’t be any worry of mine will it. They’ll have no choice.”
Sean works behind the bar in the Rovers, so he’s often in the midst of the action as it takes place in the pub
And although Antony loves his job on the ITV soap, that’s not the only reason he wants to stay there until the very end, it’s also because he loves working so much.
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“I want to work, I want to drop dead at work,” he said. “I can’t think of anything worse. I know it’s different strokes for different folks. I’m not going down the pit and I realise it’s not that, but I love my job. I’ve worked since I was a kid.
“If I have a week off work where I’m not in the schedule, I go mad. I appreciate that 90 per cent of actors are out of work 90 per cent of the time.
“It’s one thing being over-worked and doing too many hours etc. But it’s a whole other kettle of fish and a whole other set of problems if you’re just never in work. I mean, I can’t think of anything worse.”
It’s certainly true that he likes to keep busy having previously taken time out from Corrie to host his own late-afternoon chat show, and also to appear on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in 2011 where he came fourth.
He’s also quite the dancing whizz after winning Let’s Dance For Comic Relief in 2013.
As well as his acting and television commitments, Antony is an ambassador for SSAFA the Armed Forces charity, and is fronting their Big Brew Up campaign.
The fundraising drive started this week, encouraging people to all sit down together for a cup of tea and a chat to raise money to provide support for the Forces and their families.
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Speaking about the campaign, Antony went on to explain: “It’s about people coming together, sitting round a table having a chat and a brew.
“I think it’s important because it’s about families, not necessarily blood relatives but families which you’re a part of and I’m very lucky to have three.
“I’ve got my own, I’ve got my Coronation Street family and I’ve got my military family.”