Coronation Street star Simon Gregson hits back at fan who called acting during Aidan suicide storyline ‘unBritish’

CORRIE’s Simon Gregson has hit back at a fan who branded the show’s recent storyline dealing with male suicide as “unbritish”.

The 43-year-old was last night locked in a Twitter row after one viewer criticised co-star Richard Hawley for overacting – claiming he was “wailing” while filming emotional scenes.

During the heartbreaking hour-long episode last week, Corrie bosses highlighted the important issue of male suicide after Aidan Connor, played by Shayne Ward, took his own life following a secret battle with depression.

Richard gave an incredibly touching performance as he broke down in tears while playing Aidan’s devastated dad Johnny.

But one fan, John Saunderson, tweeted: “Corrie may have handled Aiden’s death sensitively but I cannot stand all the wailing and crying by Johnny.

“So unbritish and the sort of behaviour we have come to expect from in particular Arab countries.

“Definitely over the top acting.”

But Simon, who plays Steve McDonald in the ITV soap, hit back, saying (sic) : “Wow. What a total t*t you are.

“As I believe the British are a caring loving people as everybody, no matter where they are from is.

“No one is born a bad person, it’s a environment issue.”

Simon was flooded with support from fans, with his tweet receiving over 1000 ‘likes’ in just 13 hours.

One said: “I’m British and if this happened to a member of my family I don’t think I’d ever stop crying! Who the F is this guy?”

Another commented: “Well you can tell he hasn’t got kids, I’m not a parent but one thing I do know for sure is that losing a child is a terrible ordeal and you should never go through it.

“Men do have feelings plus is doing this storyline that’s what Corrie are trying to portray.”

Richard, 62, revealed last week his personal connection to the storyline after a friend went through a very similar ordeal.

He said: “Through my own life I do have connections with the story and stories such as these.

“I have a friend who I tried to honour through this performance.

“He went through a very similar story to this.

“But it is wider than that, this stuff is going on and on a repeated level.

“I have just got a sense of mission and wanted to do it well to honour the families of the fallen.

“I wanted us to do what we can to make a seismic change in our culture.

“I know it is going to be a harrowing watch and it is a dark story but it is a dark storyline that is trying to shine a light on something that is out there in the real world.”