As his plot in the venerable soap opera draws to a close, Peter Ash, who portrays Paul Foreman, has revealed details about his impending departure.
A Coronation Street performer has talked candidly about the tough farewell he’s had to endure because his plot is coming to an end.
The 39-year-old actor who plays Paul Foreman on the popular soap opera, Peter Ash, talked about his impending departure in this week’s issue of TV Times, helping fans get ready for the terrible finale of his story.
In the show, Paul, who has been supported by his husband, Billy Mayhew, has been living with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and has lost his motor functions and speech over time.
However, as the storyline draws to a close, Peter has revealed that filming has been “emotional”. Speaking about his final scene, he said: “It was quite an easy scene, technically, because I just had to lie there.
“But it was emotional, and very hard not to react when the other characters were saying goodbye. I still don’t think it has properly hit me that I’ve left Corrie, and I don’t think it will until I watch the final episode.”
He continued: “Daniel (Brocklebank, who plays Billy) and the others have been filming the aftermath and the grieving, and I probably will grieve a bit myself when it sinks in.”
The soap actor also disclosed what he intends to do next, playing the villain Abanazar in Aladdin at The Queen Elizabeth Hall in Oldham, which he said would be “such a change”.
He explained that panto was his first stage experience when he was part of a local theatre group when he was child, with the group running one each festive season.
Peter made his Cobbles debut in 2018, with his character receiving an MND diagnosis last year. Fans watched on as he started having difficulties with his grip before visiting a neurologist for tests.
As he deteriorated, Paul confessed that he wanted to choose when his life should end, with doctors recently giving him the devastating news that he doesn’t have long left to live.
In September, it was reported that Peter said there was “a lot of pressure” for him to ensure the portrayal of a character with MND was accurate.
Speaking exclusively to the Express and other press, Peter said: “When Ian MacLeod [Coronation Street’s boss] first told me I’d be doing this, we had no idea of time scale, and also to what point we would take the deterioration of Paul.”
He went on to say that it was an “issue-led story” and described it as “special” before explaining that it was “raising awareness for an amazing cause”.
