Almost everyone knows the name Eileen Grimshaw from her time on our screens over the last two decades, but as she exits the show, fans are learning more about the real star behind it all. From finding her husband to a terrifying health battle - Sue Cleaver has been through a offscreen - while playing Eileen onscreen.
Sue joined the soap in the year 2000 and is about to make her final exit in her role as Eileen. Throughout her time on the show, she has made appearances in other parts of the TV world, gaining recognition for her down-to-earth nature, away from the Corrie limelight.
However, before it all began, the actress was raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, by her adopted parents. It wasn't until her twenties that she reconnected with her birth mother and discovered a relationship with her sisters, who also happened to be actresses.
As she found her passion for drama, Cleaver played her first ever TV part, albeit a minor role, in A Touch of Frost, kicking off a television career that would go on to last over 20 years.
After her first role, she starred in the highly acclaimed series, Band of Gold, before solidifying herself in the world of TV alongside Julie Walters in Girls Night - but it was her role on Coronation Street that skyrocketed her to fame.
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As well as becoming a household name, Sue also found love on the ITV soap. Sue is currently married to Brian Owen, lighting technician for ITV. The couple met on the set of Corrie in the 2000s, and have been together ever since.
Previously, the star was married to actor James Quinn - who also starred in soaps including Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, and Doctors. The couple tied the knot in 1993, before parting ways ten years later. The couple share son Elliot together.
During her time on one of Britain's favourite soaps, Cleaver was able to dabble in other projects that helped fans get to know the real her. In 2022, the actress joined Ant and Dec in the jungle for the 22nd series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, where she gained even wider recognition, placing 9th in the series.
Three years prior to her stint on I'm A Celebrity, Sue went through a terrifying health scare, when a battle with sepsis left her fighting for her life. Initially thinking it was an IBS flare up - it was co-star Melanie Hill who noticed Sue's feet were blue and purple.
Speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on This Morning back in 2019, she recalled uncontrollably shivering as her husband came back from a night shift. "He came back and I was just shaking. He rang out daughter, who's a paramedic who said: 'Get her to hospital.' My temperature was 39.9. I didn't know I had sepsis till the next day.
"Immediately I was on fluids and antibiotics. There was an hour window of opportunity," she shared. The star also opened up about the terrifying ordeal on Loose Women this year - after becoming a panellist on the show.
She also opened up about her departure from the soap, saying: "I have decided after 25 wonderful, wonderful years that it is time to hang Eileen back up in the prop cupboard."
She continued: "I've decided that it's time to leave. I mean, they're keeping the door firmly open for me. But it's just, it's the right time; it's the end of an era."
Just last year, the star published her first ever book, A Work in Progress, and in it, she detailed her life stories, from time on the cobbles to family life, all while sharing her tips and advice for other women.
Speaking about her iconic onscreen punch up with rival Gail Platt in 2004 in the publication, Sue penned: “We had to wear kneepads and elbow pads – it was quite physical. It took hours and hours to film. At one point I was lying on the cobbles which were soaking wet and she sat astride me and we looked at each other and I said: ‘What a f*****g stupid way to pay the mortgage.’ We both got the giggles."
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Tonight, Eileen Grimshaw will finally say goodbye to the cobbles - as she embarks on new adventures. Fans will surely miss the star - but the door has been left open, should she ever want to return to the soap.
