An Interview with Sue Cleaver on “Beauty and the Beast” in Hull

For any soap to stay on air for almost 65 years is remarkable, and Coronation Street, the world’s longest running TV serial, has had more ups and downs than Blackpool rollercoaster.

Throughout the show there has been the no-nonsense matriarch. Pat Phoenix’s Elsie Tanner left an indelible footprint on the cobbles in the early days, and a handful of women over the years have come close to filling it. One of them is Sue Cleaver. As Eileen Grimshaw, the long-suffering single mum, she made her Corrie debut in 2000, and was brought in to operate the “switch” at local cab firm Streetcars. The role fitted her like a glass slipper on Cinderella’s foot, and what was planned as a short-term role lasted a quarter of a century.

Earlier this year, Eileen was whisked off to Thailand by son Jason, and that was that. Corrie’s loss is Hull New Theatre’s gain. In December, Sue makes her debut in Beauty and the Beast, with Paul Chuckle; local panto regular Jack Land Noble; rising comedy star Jack Gleadow, and radiant newcomer, Liv Newcomb. At the show’s press launch in Hull on one of the hottest days of the year, Roger Crow sat down with Sue for a chat…

Sue, in panto costume, chatting to Yorkshire Theatre Guide’s Roger Crow

Hi Sue. How’s life after Corrie. Has it sunk in yet?
“It really has. I left back in April, so lots has been happening since then. I was going to have some time off, but that hasn’t worked out. I’m still doing Loose Women, which I love doing, and I’m starting a new show in a few weeks. I’m going to work with Frances Goodrich, the director, who’s just directed Michael Sheen at the National. We’re doing Snakes in the Grass, which is Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy ghost story. We’re doing that at Theatr Clwyd, and we go through until the end of October. Then a few weeks off and then Hull!”

You must love theatre.
“I do. That’s why I decided to leave (Corrie). I got to this stage, 61, and I thought, ‘I want to go back to my first love’. That’s where I started. I thought it’s time to take my foot off the pedal a bit. I’m at that stage where I just want to do the things I fancy doing and think will be fun, hence the panto.”

Is this your first pantomime?
“Yes. I’m a panto virgin. I’m very lucky that I’m working with Mr (Paul) Chuckle. He’s done 59 of them so I’m sure he’s going to take me under his wing. And yeah, really looking forward to it.”

What do you know about your character, Mrs Potty?
“All I know is the Angela Lansbury version in the Disney thing, so I’m awaiting the scripts, and it will be a big surprise for me.”

Beauty and the Beast can be seen at Hull New Theatre from December 10, 2025