By Joe Crutchley
Two stars of Coronation Street share more than just their talent for captivating audiences. The popular ITV soap has a history of featuring real-life family members on its iconic cobbles, including siblings, cousins, and even parent-child duos. Cousins Brooke Vincent and Ellie Leach have both enjoyed successful stints on the show, while the late Rick Neelan (played by Greg Wood) was actually the real-life brother of footballer Tommy Orpington (portrayed by Matt Milburn). However, they’re not the only ones with familial ties both on and off screen. Fans were recently taken aback by the revelation of a mother-son duo who graced the soap years ago. In 1985, Sue Jenkins joined the cast of Coronation Street as Gloria Todd, becoming a regular face at the Rovers Return pub. She worked alongside Julie Goodyear, who famously played landlady Bet Lynch, reports the Daily Star . Beyond her time on Corrie, Sue also portrayed Jackie Corkhill in Brookside from 1992 to 2001, and made a brief appearance in Emmerdale in 2008 as Bonnie Drinkwater. Interestingly, Sue’s son is none other than Richard Fleeshman, who also had a role on Coronation Street as Craig Harris. Richard became part of the Coronation Street family in 2002, joining as part of the Harris clan, who were under witness protection. His character, Craig, had some significant storylines during his tenure. He adopted a goth lifestyle, much to his father’s disapproval, and became Rosie Webster’s (portrayed by Helen Flanagan) first boyfriend. The plot thickened dramatically when Craig’s sister, Katy Harris, killed their father following a heated argument about her clandestine relationship with Martin Platt. Their mother, Angela Harris, attempted to protect Katy by covering up the crime, but overwhelmed by guilt, Katy took her own life. In the aftermath, Craig planned to flee to Berlin with Rosie, but ultimately departed alone, bidding farewell to the cobbles in 2006 for good. The revelation of Sue and Richard’s roles on Corrie left fans astounded. On X, previously known as Twitter , one viewer posted about Sue’s stint on Corrie. Another fan responded: “That’s Richard fleeshmans mum!”. A third person commented: “Wow, all this time watching and I never knew that, I can see her son in that photo now.” Yet another added: “Her real life son played Craig Harris, son of Psycho Tommy!” Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX