Craig Charles is set to appear on our screens this weekend as he takes part in the celebrity special of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? but the actor has faced a number of personal hurdles in his lifetime
Craig Charles is set to appear on television screens this weekend with a stint on Jeremy Clarkson’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? the celebrity special, on Saturday (August 23) at 7:30pm.
Back in 2014, Craig participated in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! but unfortunately his stint on the ITV show was curtailed for heartbreaking circumstances.
The 61-year-old, who initially shot to stardom in the science fiction comedy Red Dwarf, joined the Coronation Street cast in 2005 as the beloved cab driver Lloyd Mullaney. He stayed in the role for ten years before deciding to depart the cobbles permanently, only revealing his true motivations for leaving years afterwards, reports Wales Online.
With Craig’s latest television outing, we couldn’t resist looking back at the Liverpool performer’s private life and the personal challenges he has faced.
Heartbreaking circumstances behind Corrie departure
Craig Charles was a staple on Corrie (Image: ITV)READ MORE: ITV Coronation Street’s Carla Connor and Lisa Swain hailed as ‘history makers’ after big moveREAD MORE: ITV Coronation Street star Frank Grimes who played Barry Connor has died aged 78
In 2011, Craig declared he would be stepping away from his Coronation Street character to rejoin the Red Dwarf cast as Dave Lister – though he subsequently returned to the ITV drama until 2015.
“I have had an absolutely fantastic 10 years on Coronation Street and I will be very sad to leave,” the actor declared when he announced his return to space during a This Morning appearance. He continued: “Lloyd has become a huge part of my life and I have made some amazing friends with whom I will always keep in touch. But I feel I owe it to my colleagues on Red Dwarf to join them in filming the new series and finding out what is in store.”
Nevertheless, it wasn’t simply his desire to reunite with former co-stars that prompted his departure. Back in 2014, whilst Craig was participating in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! he received the devastating news that his brother Dean had suffered a cardiac arrest and died.
His brother’s sudden death came as a complete shock and truly made him realise how fragile life can be. Speaking to OK! Magazine, he revealed: “My brother died when I was on I’m a Celeb. He was only 52. I thought, ‘If I died suddenly, would I be happy with what I’d achieved?’
“The honest answer was no. So I promised myself I’d have new adventures. I wouldn’t have been able to do half the stuff I’ve done if I’d stayed in Coronation Street.”
Life-saving surgery
Craig shot to fame on Red Dwarf(Image: TV Grab)Following the loss of his brother to a heart attack, Craig was rushed to hospital after displaying symptoms of cardiac arrest himself. Despite the seriousness of his condition – the very same ailment that claimed his brother’s life in 2014 – the Red Dwarf star managed to find some positivity during the terrifying experience.
Discussing his health scare with the Daily Mail, he remarked: “God must have smiled at me. They got me to the hospital in time.”
He further recalled to the same publication: “I was sweating, but I was also really cold, and my teeth were tingling. My wife Jackie was in Ireland visiting her family so I went to bed and phoned her. Jackie’s sister-in-law is a nurse and she said, ‘Get him to hospital – now!’ But I wouldn’t go on my own.”
Craig added: “Jackie came back to England the next morning, saw me and immediately phoned 999. They said, ‘The ambulance is on its way – what colour is he?'”
“Jackie looked at me and said, ‘Well, he’s brown.’ I was having a heart attack and laughing at the same time.” Following his cardiac episode, Craig was offered microsurgery which required inserting a tube through his wrist.
He told the same publication: “They went through my wrist into my heart. Put a tube in, then a balloon, pumped it up then put four stents in.”
Dangerous Corrie stunts
Craig Charles didn’t open up about his reason for leaving Corrie until years later(Image: ITV)Coronation Street’s Sue Cleaver once revealed how she’d previously become overzealous on set and ‘nearly killed’ her fellow cast members Simon Gregson and Craig during filming.
Sue was best recognised for portraying Eileen Grimshaw, working alongside Craig and Simon, but remembered one “violent” incident when she feared she’d inflicted serious injury on her co-stars.
Speaking about the incident on This Morning, she reflected: “I remember in the early days when you slapped someone – you used to do it. Now, you’ve got stunt people in and it’s all magic but we used to do it.”
The actress shared: “I remember banging Steve McDonald and Craig [Charles]’s heads together and there was an almighty bang. Honestly, I nearly killed them. I got carried away.”
Who Wants to Be A Millionaire will air on Saturday, 7:30pm, on ITV1.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.devonlive.com ’
