I’M A Celebrity’s Simon Gregson has revealed the shocking abuse he received in the street after joining the cast of Coronation Street.
Simon, 47, was just 15 when he landed the role of Steve McDonald in the ITV1 soap but he admits he initially “hated” the fame that came with it.
Opening up to his campmates, the actor said he was physically attacked, spat at and had abuse hollered at him by viewers.
Simon said: “It was difficult for a while to adjust. It’s like, ‘This isn’t what I planned for myself and I do not like it’.”
Shocked, fellow I’m A Celeb star Kadeena Cox asked if he really didn’t like it.
“I hated it!” he said. “The fame side of it, I hated. It was really negative feedback, getting beaten up, spat at, property being damaged.”
As his campmates gasped, Simon added: “It was shocking.”
Simon was then shown talking in the Telegraph, where he said: “I was never a fan of the limelight, but it turned out nice in the end.
“I’m here in a castle eating rice and beans!”
Simon landed the part of Steve McDonald in 1989 and he has played the hapless character ever since.
Producers had visited his school in Stockport looking for people to play the teenage twin sons of the McDonald family.
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