Being shot to fame on Coronation Street ruined my mental health - soap bosses offered no support but I found a lifeline that kept me going, admits Simon Gregson

Coronation Street's Simon Gregson has revealed that shooting to fame on the soap had a detrimental effect on his mental health.

The actor, 49, first appeared in the ITV soap in December 1989 when he was just 15-years-old, and instantly became a household name as millions of viewers tuned in to watch his exploits as tearaway teen Steve McDonald. 

However, at the time, the soap offered no support for young actors joining the huge show like they do now, with Simon - who joined alongside Nicholas Cochrane who played his twin brother Andy - admitting he felt like he was 'dropped in the middle of the ocean'.

Speaking to YouTube channel DEEP, set up by ex LADbible executives Ben Powell-Jones and Thom Gulseven, Simon discussed the impact joining the show at that time had on him, revealing that the thought of his own kids going through what he went through makes him very 'upset'. 

Speaking about his and co-star Nicholas' rise to fame, he shared: 'We were massive overnight and it was very odd and it was hard to compute for a young man. But there was no help!'

Simon went on to say that nowadays when people are cast on the soap, they are sat down and have the implications of being on TV explained to them, with the show informing them about things like press interest, fan reactions, the impact on families and potential criticism of the role.

He added: 'But with us, there was nothing. So we were kind of dropped in the middle of the ocean at fifteen and left to swim to shore.'

On how he suffered mentally as a result, Simon continued: 'It had a massive impact on my mental health, looking back. It makes me very upset for the only reason that I've got kids the same age now and the thought of them going through what I went through is horrible. It's not nice.'

The soap star, who has played the role of Steve for 35 years, shared that his father was a policeman and as a result he got therapy through the police. 

However, it admitted that those therapists 'didn't know what to do with it' and had 'no idea' how to counsel him through the struggles with fame.

Simon told how it was years later, in 2015, when he got a therapist and started to work on his issues, with the star stating: 'I realised it was okay not to be okay.

'Because I kept talking about it, he [the therapist' was like "this has been pretty s**t for you" and I was like "yeah! It has a bit actually".'

Simon added that at the time, any bad publicity he got was 'good publicity' and that he couldn't do anything wrong.

He added: 'I was getting paid so I stayed. I stayed yeah, and got very drunk! That seemed to help quite a lot!' 

It comes after last year, Simon revealed that Coronation Street producers called in a doctor during his debilitating 20-year anxiety battle which saw him suffer 12 panic attacks a day. 

The actor had to visit a psychiatrist after his mental health led him to believe he was suffering from mystery illnesses. 

Speaking on ITV's Lorraine, he explained: 'In 2015 it came to it's head and I didn't know what it was.

'I had heart scans and brain scans, they thought I had vertigo then we went back to the beginning and my GP figured out that I had an anxiety disorder.

'I'd get number fingers, tunnel vision, feel sick dizzy. Completely deliberating.'

He continued: 'It came to a head when I had to ring my boss I was like, "look I'm in my car but I can't get off the drive." 

Simon said that the soap's producers called in a doctor, who has helped the Royal Family and Navy officers, to come on to the set and help. 

'I had six months off I went to the gym. I did a lot of research and I learnt how your brain is connected to the stomach. I retrained my brain not to worry,' he revealed.