ITV Coronation Street Cassie Plummer star Claire Sweeney worried she would be ‘public enemy number one’
Claire Sweeney has been at the centre of several hard hitting storylines. Viewers saw her character, Cassie Plummer, get arrested in this week’s run of the hit ITV soap. Claire first arrived in Weatherfield as troublemaker Cassie in 2023. Her character is Tyrone Dobbs’ biological mum and has worked hard to get back on the right path as she got a job caring for Ken Barlow.
However, things took a sinister turn when Cassie began poisoning Ken and used his vulnerability to her own advantage. She had been adding antihistamines into his tea, making him feel drowsy. She also convinced him he was losing his memory after scamming him and using his debit card to make purchases online. This week, Ken confronted Cassie and she was later arrested.
The 53-year-old actress soon became a fan-favourite on Coronation Street, but Claire admitted she was taken aback when she was presented with this major storyline working alongside Bill Roache. She said: “I was shocked, it’s Ken Barlow, he’s a national treasure. I’m going to be Public Enemy No 1! I think viewers are going to hate her. The funny thing is that they’ve just started to like her – they were finally warming to her – and then this happens.
“In my head, playing her, I’m trying to find saving graces, but I don’t know if there will be any. I’m a Corrie fan and I’d be fuming watching this. Already in the summer when I went on holiday to Majorca all the old dears were saying to me: ‘You leave Ken alone,’ ‘Don’t you be upsetting Ken now.’ And that was before I’d done anything!”
Claire told the ECHO in an exclusive interview that her current contract with the ITV show lasts until June 2025 as she said many more twists and turns are on the horizon. She admitted her showdown with Ken Barlow could be the start of her exit storyline. She said: “When I got this job, if you’d have told me that a year and a half later, I’d be here having a big storyline with Bill Roache, I’d have been so grateful for that.
“In my time in Corrie, I’ve had big scenes with Maureen Lipman, a big storyline with Bill Roache, I’ve got to snog Steve McDonald and have a cat fight with Tracy. What more could I want? So, if this does signal the end, I’d go – well hasn’t that been great, I’ve been blessed.”
Cassie has been poisoning Ken Barlow in a current major storyline(Image: ITV)
Away from the screen, Claire was in a relationship with Ricky Hatton last year after their romance blossomed while competing on Dancing On Ice. They enjoyed a high profile romance throughout 2024 before Claire announced in December they had parted ways. She told MailOnline at the premiere of The Devil Wears Prada: “I’m great – we’re still friends, we were friends, we dated and now we’re friends again. It’s all good!”
The soap star from Walton spoke to the ECHO in an exclusive interview about her busy year after she competed on Dancing On Ice and established herself as a main character on Corrie. She told the ECHO: “I thought I’d had the better days of my career, so to have a year like this, I just feel so grateful and blessed.”
Claire is a mum-of-one from her previous relationship and regularly shares proud updates of Jaxon on her social media channels. She first shot to stardom as Lindsey Corkhill on Brookside but is delighted to have been able to join the world of soaps again.
She told the ECHO and other press when she joined Corrie in 2023: “I’m a single mum and my decisions are not only based on the love of what I do but they’re based on stability for me and my son.
I’m 52 years of age now. Not only is it the best soap, not only is she a wonderful part but having stability for a while just comes at the right time as well. Not touring in a musical in a different place every week. I get to have my full weekends with my boy now, which is lovely.”
