Antony Cotton reveals secret hardship behind his 'grumpy' Dancing On Ice persona

The Coronation Street star was being a Good Samaritan

Author: Emma DoddsPublished 3rd Jul 2018

Coronation Street actor Antony Cotton definitely divided the public during his time on Dancing On Ice earlier this year. Many thought he was a fantastic addition to the show - but others branded him a "diva" after he wasn't afraid to stand up for himself against the judging panel's comments.

However, the 42-year-old has now revealed that there was a lot more going on behind the scenes than anyone knew about and has opened up about his secret stresses off-camera.

Speaking to the Metro, Antony admitted to being "quite grumpy" during his stint on the show, but he had good reason - he was trying to save the life of a homeless person.

Having received a message from an acquaintance on Facebook, Antony called it "pure chance" that he decided to read it - discovering that the person was now homeless after previously having a home and a family.

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Antony Cotton reveals secret hardship behind his 'grumpy' Dancing On Ice persona

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Antony worked tirelessly with homeless shelter Barnabus in Manchester to help the person, telling the publication, "I was in the middle of doing Dancing On Ice so I may have appeared quite grumpy on that occasionally. I wanted to say, 'You don’t know the half of what I’m f-----g going through right now,'" adding that he'd kept the situation a secret because "it was a private thing."

In a strange coincidence, Antony was approached months later by show bosses at Corrie, who told him they wanted his character Sean Tully to go through a homeless storyline - which almost exactly mirrored what Antony had just been through with his friend.

Having such a close understanding of homelessness, Antony jumped at the chance to raise awareness, saying, "If somebody had said that to me without me going through this I would have said, 'That just does not happen.'

"Turns out it’s true and very spookily it was the identical story. So much so that I had to go back to Barnabus and say, 'I don’t want you to think I’ve come in here for some weird research and I’ve picked up this homeless person online'."

Antony's character Sean will find himself homeless in upcoming scenes, tearily being forced to ask strangers for donations on the street.