Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver shares update on 'misunderstood' health battle as she admits to feeling 'faint while filming' after bidding farewell to the ITV soap after 25 years
Sue Cleaver has shared a new health update after leaving Coronation Street following a 25 year stint on the show.
The soap star, 61, known for playing Eileen Grimshaw since 2000, said goodbye to Weatherfield in an episode that aired earlier this month.
But behind the cameras, the actress has been battling Type 2 diabetes for over 20 years, which at times caused her to feel faint while filming.
Sue now credits the use of a continuous glucose monitor called Dexcom with helping her take back control of her health.
In a new interview with The Sun, she said: 'I think there is a lot of misunderstanding around diabetes, people tell you can't eat chocolate or sugar - but where I struggle with my diabetes is when I'm about to go on stage or when I'm about to go on Loose Women or live shows.
'Before I go on I'd have to prick my finger and check if my sugar is stable enough to get me to the interval or do I need to eat.'
Sue confessed that there were moments on set when she felt 'faint' during filming.
She explained: 'If I'm about to go on stage or live shows and I don't know if I'm going to make it if my sugars aren't stable enough, and I don't have time to prick my finger, you tend to think 'let me eat this thing now' and then you tend to feel the effects of it later or the middle of the show.'
It comes after Sue insisted that her 'body doesn't define her' as she opened up about her incredible three stone weight loss.
The star also admitted she was still learning to battle 'negative thoughts' about her appearance after embracing a healthier lifestyle and regular work outs.
Last year, she told Bella: 'My body is now who I am. My body will change, my size will go up and down and I don't define myself or get involved in any of those conversations around it'.
'What's more important is to do the work on the inside. I'm changing how I live, doing things differently, thats that I thought I didn't like, and changing myself'.
Sue continued: 'The trouble is when you've got negative thoughts you hang onto them. So it's learning not to take those thoughts so seriously.
In March 2024, Sue discussed her weight loss after participating in Dry January the year before (no alcohol for the month).
She said: 'I lost 18lb [in 2022's I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here]. I'd already lost a stone and a half that year, because I gave up booze. I did Dry January and then I decided to carry on.
'I know it sounds ridiculous at my age, but I never really thought about how many calories I was consuming when I was having a glass of red wine while cooking dinner and then a couple more while eating it.
'If you're doing that four or five nights a week, that's a lot of calories.'
Last year Sue revealed that since entering her 60s she feels that the world is now her 'oyster after years of alcohol dependency.
Telling Prima: '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.'
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