Coronation Street Bethany Platt’s dad star is now unrecognisable 23 years after soap death
The Coronation Street actor who played Bethany Platt’s father is unrecognisable over 20 years after his soap death.
Back in 2000, 13-year-old Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien) found herself pregnant with Bethany (Lucy Fallon). The groundbreaking storyline shocked the nation at the time as it was one of the first times a British soap had tackled the issue of teenage pregnancy.
A pivotal moment in Coronation Street history, the storyline was created in a bid to raise awareness for the consequences and real-life struggles of early motherhood.
The teen and her mother Gail Platt (Helen Worth) discovered she was pregnant after taking her to the doctors after believing Sarah had developed an eating disorder.
After being told she was five months pregnant, they kept the pregnancy a secret on the cobbles until news spread around and Sarah became the victim of hurtful remarks and swipes.
Although her parents suspected the baby’s father was someone older, it was actually a schoolmate of Sarah, Neil Fearns (Paul Holowaty). And in June 2000, Sarah gave birth to Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon).
Despite the birth of his daughter Neil did not see Bethany. On her first birthday, Neil’s family sent the Platts a card and cheque.
However, in 2003, Neil was involved in a car crash and died. Martin and Gail broke the news to Sarah who was shocked at Neil’s death but not overly emotional.
Following his exit, actor Paul Holowaty bagged a role on Hollyoaks in 2005, playing racist bully Steven ‘Macki’ MacIntosh. He has also appeared on Casualty and in 2016, Paul went stateside for a stint on American show NCIS.
More recently, he starred in the Hollywood 2020 blockbuster Doolittle, and TV movie Falling for Love. The actor looks notably different from his Corrie days too, with the former soap star now rocking facial hair. Paul has said goodbye to the school shirts and opted for more smart attire.
Talking about the shock teenage pregnancy storyline, Tina previously said: “Nothing for me will probably ever beat that story, just because of the age I was, the opportunity to play out a teenage pregnancy and how much the story blew up.
“Neil Fearns was Sarah’s first sexual relationship, it happened once, she was very young and very naive.
“They were just so young and with not being in a relationship, Neil was never really involved. It was crazy the response to that storyline but I absolutely loved playing it.”
