Simon Gregson becomes dad for third time

Congratulations go to Simon Gregson, who has announced via twitter that his wife Emma Gleave has given birth. 

The couple already have two children and Simon becomes a dad today for the third time.

Simon tweeted today: ""After talking to a belly for 9 months, I can now talk to a beautiful little face and know it's not Mr Hanky.​"

Earlier this year Simon went on a leave of absence from his work at Coronation Street for personal reasons.   

His character of Steve McDonald was recently voted as top Corrie man by readers in our poll here on the Coronation Street Blog.



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Top 25 Favourite Corrie Males - in full

After nearly 10 weeks, we finally found fans’ favourite Corrie male – Steven James McDonald!

It’s been a fun poll to do and for me, the results aren’t that shocking. The biggest for me was seeing Norris so low.

What did you think of the countdown as a whole? Let us know!

1. Steve McDonald (440 votes)

2. Roy Cropper (408 votes)

3. Jack Duckworth (322 votes)

4. Tim Metcalfe (229 votes)

5. Peter Barlow (205 votes)

6. Mike Baldwin (193 votes)

7. David Platt (191 votes)

8. Fred Elliott (163 votes)

9. Ken Barlow (144 votes)

10. Jim McDonald (143 votes)

11. Curly Watts (127 votes)

12. Graeme Proctor (124 votes)

13. Eddie Yeats (90 votes)

14. Alf Roberts (87 votes)

15. Stan Ogden (85 votes)

16. Kevin Webster (75 votes)

17. Des Barnes; Norris Cole (62 votes)

18. Alec Gilroy (56 votes)

19. Tony Gordon (51 votes)

20. Martin Platt ; Richard Hillman (48 votes)

21. Albert Tatlock (47 votes)

22. Reg Holdsworth (44 votes)

23. Percy Sugden (40 votes)

Hopefully in the New Year I’ll conduct an all-time favourite Corrie female poll. As Corrie is known for its women, I predict that countdown will get everyone talking! 

Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.

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Top 25 Favourite Corrie Males - No. 1

STEVE MCDONALD
(440 VOTES)

Duration: 1989-

Played by: Simon Gregson  

2012 character poll position (men): 2

Having led the race since the second week, Steve McDonald is at No.1!! I believe his popularity soared when he married Karen in 2001 and thus making him one of the show’s all-time favourites.

Over the course of 26 years, Steve McDonald has gone from a mischievous teen who caused trouble for Alf Roberts to a father, cab firm owner and pub landlord loved by millions. He arrived on the Street with parents Jim and Liz and twin brother Andy. 

For a man who’s only in his forties, Steve has been married six times! First wife Vicky Arden was wealthy and he only married her for her money. When he got into hot water criminally, he blamed her and she quickly filed for divorce. He married second wife Karen Phillips for a bet in 2001 but they fell in love and became popular with fans due to their fiery arguments. The marriage ended due to Karen’s affair with Joe Carter and Steve’s one night stand with Tracy Barlow – resulting in the birth of his daughter Amy. After a few months, Steve and Karen reunited and remarried in 2004 but the marriage soon collapsed and Karen left the Street and they divorced in 2006. 

After relationships with Tracy, Ronnie Clayton and Michelle Connor, Steve married Becky Granger in 2009. Their marriage was also tempestuous with both making mistakes which resulted in their divorce in 2011. Steve then married Tracy when she became pregnant with twins. But when she miscarried, she accused Becky of pushing her down the stairs, a lie to gain Steve’s sympathy. Becky got her revenge though and announced that Tracy was lying and had medical evidence that showed she had had a miscarriage. A furious Steve divorced Tracy. He then returned to dating Michelle. After a tough relationship with Steve hiding his depression from her, they eventually married in 2015.

Steve owned the Rovers between 2006 and 2012 and has been since 2013 (albeit a brief period in 2015) and has been running cab firm Street Cars since 2000, enjoying a wonderful camaraderie with Lloyd Mullaney and Eileen Grimshaw. When he wanted money to start the cab firm, he borrowed from drug dealer Jez Quigley. When Steve failed to pay him, Jez sought revenge and beat him up and left him for dead. Steve’s dad Jim sought revenge on Jez by beating him up and this resulted in Jez dying of a punctured lung. 

Steve is of course known on this Blog for his gurns!

Should Steve be at no. 1? Are you a fan? 

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Simon Gregson wins favourite Soap Star in TV Times Awards

Simon Gregson, who plays Steve McDonald on Coronation Street, has been named TV Times’ Favourite Soap Star in the magazine’s annual roll of honour.

Simon tells TV Times: "I love playing Steve and it’s always nice to know that the viewers enjoy watching him and have taken the time to vote for me."

"It’s been a difficult year for Steve and what he has gone through does seem to have resonated with many people. I felt a real sense of responsibility playing that storyline so it is encouraging to know it has touched so many people."

Sean Ward, who played Callum Logan, won the reader vote in the Favourite Newcomer category.

“It’s the best thing!” he said. “I’ve been up for quite a few awards this year, and just getting nominated is more than enough. So to find out I’ve won means the world to me.  The last award I got was when I worked in a bar, and that was for always being late!”

You can see all the winners and pictures here.

Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.

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Who owns the Rovers? A definitive answer direct from ITV

Over on the Bluenose Corrie Blog, our sister blog for the Canadian timeline, there has been a discussion on the mystery of who owns the Rovers Returns. There has been a bit of confusion over this since it was never clear if Carla did go through with the offer to buy Liz's share of the pub when Steve sold his share to "Travis, Ltd. " aka Tony.

Many thanks to a commenter there, Corriefan, who pointed the way to a post that was made on the Coronation Street Guestbook on August 2 by Daphne. This was information obtained by email straight from ITV's David Nugent:

"Many thanks for the e-mail about the ownership of the Rovers and I do hope the below clarify matters. 

Liz paid off the debts Steve had run up using Street Cars money. Steve then had a huge tax bill, which Tony paid off. He then also agreed to help pay for the wedding. Tony then pretended that all this strain on his finances had forced him into dodgy deals with loan sharks who were now threatening him with violence if he did not pay them back. Steve sold his half of the Rovers to Travis Ltd. (Tony's bogus company). Steve gave the proceeds to Tony, who effectively paid himself! Liz was about to sell her half of the Rovers to Carla but before they could sign on the dotted line, she learned of Tony's plan to get the pub. Therefore, Liz still owns her half of the pub, while Tony owns the other half."

So there you have it straight from the studio. Liz does still own half of the pub and Tony owns the other half at the moment. We do know that Liz is trying to keep Tony out of it and we've suspected that she'll get back together with Tony only to get Steve's share back for him somehow.

Watch this space!


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Rover returns to Coronation Street next week

Next week in Coronation Street, Rover returns.

Yes, Steve's dog Rover (aka Boo Boo) does a runner from his owner to return to the Rovers and back into Steve's life.

On Wednesday night 26th August, we'll see Steve over the moon when Rover the dog turns up at the pub again. Liz has a change of heart about Rover and so Steve proudly declares himself as the dog's owner. 

Did you know that Simon Gregson's real pet Cookie the dog plays Rover the Coronation Street dog?

Read all about it here.

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