Sophie Austin shares loving message to Shayne Ward after heartbreaking suicide scene on Coronation Street
His final scenes aired last night
Coronation Street viewers were left in tears during last night's episode after Shayne Ward's character Aidan Connor broke down and prepared to take his own life in heartbreaking scenes. With new figures showing that 84 men a week take their own lives in the UK, bosses at Coronation Street wanted to help tackle the issue, with Shayne's exit from the soap focusing on male suicide.
Watch the moment from last night's show below:
After the episode aired, former X Factor winner Shayne received heaps of praise from fans for his portrayal, with many adding he should win 'every award'.
Shayne's fiancée and former Hollyoaks star Sophie Austin also praised her husband-to-be after the scenes aired.
Taking to Instagram to post a picture of Shayne on the Coronation Street cobbles with their daughter, Sophie wrote, 'So here we are at the end of this long journey , one that I'm so so proud of you for taking . At first it was such a hard decision and road to face knowing how important this story was for us as a family and for so many others. You were scared as you wanted to do it justice ! Well you did my darling , you listened to stories/ experiences , learnt , revisited your own memories and tragic loss and worked hard to make this story the truest it could be and to hopefully help others and get people taking . I will forever be in awe of you and your amazing talent as an actor .Thankyou my love xx @shaynetward @samaritanscharity @calmzone.' sic
Shayne later took to his Twitter page to share the heartbreaking figures about male suicide. He wrote, 'My heart continues to break reading what you have all been through'. The singer turned actor then added, 'I would like to thank Coronation Street and it's amazing cast and crew/team for breaking the stigma and for using the platform to continue to raise awareness for male suicide.' sic
Coronation Street is set to return tomorrow night, showing scenes as Aidan's family struggle to come to terms with what has happened. They begin to question why they hadn’t spotted any signs that he was struggling to cope with life.
Before the tragic scenes aired, Shayne released a statement to the press reading, "I am honoured to have been trusted with a storyline like this, it shows the confidence that Kate and the team had in me to be able to play it. When you get given a storyline like this it is a decision that is not taken lightly, I have played it with as much honesty and truth as I could. I am very proud of what I have done in my three years on the show and on this storyline in particular.
“Aidan is an ‘everyman’ figure, he is someone men can identify with, which is important in telling this story. We hope that anyone who recognises something of themselves in Aidan, will realise they can, and really should, talk about how they’re feeling."
If you, or someone you know, are affected by the issues raised in this story you are encouraged to contact the Samaritans on 116 123 or CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
Coronation Street continues on ITV.