Katie McGlynn says her ‘Coronation Street’ cervical cancer storyline has affected her "mental health".
The 26-year-old star has filmed her final scenes as Sinead Tinker, who will pass away from the disease this week, and admits since finishing on the ITV soap she has taken up a new fitness regime which has been "really helping mentally".
She said: "I kind of underestimated the effect it’s had on my mental health. I’ve only just noticed it.
"Walking away from filming and watching it on Monday, that part of me is breathing Sinead, and it’s bizarre.
"But I started doing a fitness thing to safeguard myself, and that’s really helping me mentally.
"I sound silly saying it, but I believe Sinead is real.
"I’ve played her for six-and-a-half years, me and ‘Corrie’ created this character, I feel like she’s my friend.
"So watching her die was just awful. But it’s raising awareness, and I just hope we are doing that."
And after watching Sinead’s death last week, Katie will not be tuning in to see her character pass away when the rest of the nation do this week, because it is too painful to watch again.
She said: "I can’t watch it again. I think once we were filming it, you couldn’t really get out of it. You immerse yourself in the part so much.
"Whenever we went back to Sinead’s room, people were just on and off crying, parts of the crew, me and Rob [Mallard].
"It felt so real, and I thought the only way we could play this part is if we tap our minds into it. It’s real, all of it felt real for me."
Katie has felt an "imposter syndrome" – when an individual doubts their accomplishments – while playing out the plot because people have been thanking her so much.
Speaking on ‘Loose Women’, she added: "I’ve had women message me saying that hadn’t gone for the smear but now they have, and they found pre-cancerous cells.
"I just get emotional when they’re telling me. Me and Rob feel this imposter syndrome, because people keep coming up to us saying, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you for doing this storyline’.
"I just think, ‘I’m acting, I’m not curing cancer, I’m not actually doing anything.’ "
Katie McGlynn says Coronation Street plot has affected her ‘mental health’
