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Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver has revealed the jaw-dropping way she met her biological family in an emotional interview.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Thursday, the actress, 61, left hosts Richard Madeley and Kate Garraway speechless as she described how she met her birth mother for the first time in her twenties after being adopted as a baby.
Sue was at drama school and the Royal Exchange in Manchester were auditioning for parts in Oedipus when she unexpectedly met the husband of her birth mother.
She explained: ‘I met an actor called Michael Harper who met me and said “She’s the double of my wife”.
‘To cut a long story short we were at a party and he asked about my accent and I said “Well I am not from the North I was born in Barnet.”
Coronation Street’s Sue Cleaver has revealed the jaw-dropping way she met her biological family and her birth name in an emotional Good Morning Britain interview on Thursday
Sue was at drama school and the Royal Exchange in Manchester were auditioning for parts in Oedipus when she unexpectedly met the husband of her birth mother
‘And the next thing I know he had left the party and gone to a phone box and he called her and said “I’ve found her”. He was married to my birth mother.’
Realising where she got her passion for showbiz, she continued: ‘It is interesting because growing up we didn’t got to the theatre or anything but when I met my birth mother their whole family were in the business.’
As Richard asked how her birth mum reacted, Sue revealed: ‘She said “I’ve been expecting it!” She said she had always had a feeling it would happen.’
Sue also revealed her birth name as she explained how her parents had always given her the freedom to find her birth parents if she wanted to.
The star explained: ‘My parents gave me everything when I was 18 that they got from the adoption people. My name was Claire, Claire Greeve was my name.
‘It was meant to happen. I have my wonderful family and now I have birth family. It has been an extraordinary story.’
Sue previously spoke about meeting her birth mother during her stint in the I’m A Celebrity jungle back in 2022.
After recounting the story Scarlette Douglas reacted: ‘What!’ while Jill Scott added: ‘Nah, that has just given me goosebumps!’ and Babatúndé Aléshé said: ‘That’s spooky! That’s mad.’
She explained: ‘I met an actor called Michael Harper who met me and said “She’s the double of my wife”
As Richard asked how her birth mum reacted, Sue revealed: ‘She said “I’ve been expecting it!” She said she had always had a feeling it would happen’
The star appeared on the show to promote her new book A Work In Progress
Sue revealed her birth family were all in the showbiz industry, explaining where she inherited her passion from (pictured as Eileen Grimshaw in Coronation Street)
Sue continued: ‘It’s uncanny and I’ve got two half sisters who are all in the business.’
Jill said: ‘That is the most incredible story I think I’ve ever heard.’
Sue concluded: ‘It’s lovely because my mum and my birth mother, we’ve all met, been out for dinner, we’ve all kept in touch, so we’ve all had lovely relationship ever since, so it’s a nice ending. I’m very lucky.’
It comes after the soap star told of how she has learnt to embrace ageing and admitted that since entering her 60s she feels that the world is now her ‘oyster.’
Speaking in Prima’s November issue she explained: ‘There are so many people my age who I speak to that are depressed about reaching 60. You feel like this is the end of the line, that everything goes down from here. And I absolutely don’t feel that way.
‘I just feel like the world really is my oyster now, and there’s so much available out there. There’s so much that you can do.’
She also revealed in the candid interview how her reliance on alcohol has lessened as she gets older, explaining: ‘I don’t have any fear around alcohol any more, and that is really freeing.’
‘I never imagined getting to that state. I thought I had a dependency. I thought I couldn’t get by without having a glass of wine at night.
‘I thought life wouldn’t be great without a glass of wine. It would be absolutely great without wine. I just thought it wouldn’t. It’s the thinking around it that is the problem.’