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Coronation Street actress Cherylee Houston is well known for starring as Izzy Armstrong on the ITV soap.

Since joining Coronation Street in 2010, Izzy has become one of Weatherfield's most popular characters, becoming involved in huge storylines such as the birth of her son Jake.

Fans were also delighted to see actress Cherylee Houston back on our TV screens, after she was absent from the soap due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Since then, Cherylee has spoken openly about her life away from the soap, including acting alongside her famous husband and filming scenes from home.

Rival soap role

Long before Cherylee Houston played Izzy Armstrong in Coronation Street, she also had roles in other rival soaps.

In 2005, the actress played Jemma Fairbank in Holby City, before going on to appear in Doctors as Belle Hutchinson and ITV soap Emmerdale as Maureen Smith.

Cherylee has also appeared in TV series including Little Britain, The Bill and radio drama Tinsel Girl on BBC Radio 4.

However, she most fondly known for playing Izzy Armstrong in Coronation Street since 2010.

She also formed the Disabled Artists Networking Community, which runs webinars and masterclasses for disabled artists and connects them with those working in the media industries.

Talking about the community to Digital Spy, Cherylee said: "Over the last 12 months, as a society as a whole, our attitude towards diversity and change is really shifting.

"Being a disabled actor for 20 odd years, I know what people feel the blocks are, so we bring the solutions in a friendly way and we're beginning to see the changes already."

Health battle

Cherylee has spoken openly about her health battle, after first suffering joint pain when she was 11 years old.

At the age of 23, doctors then diagnosed the actress with a rare connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which means her joints are ­unstable and that she has tissue damage in her muscles and tendons.

The condition can lead to sprains, dislocations and constant pain, and following her diagnosis, the actress has since used a wheelchair.

However, Cherylee has revealed that she has suffered horrific attacks as a result of her condition, including physical threats on a train and being called a 'benefits cheat' by a man, who abused her verbally at her own home.

Talking about the incident, she tweeted: "Wow disability hate crime knocked on our front door today literally. Scary as shows how much our country's instinct is to hate not think.

"He was very rude to Toby and obviously disgusted that I wasn't paralysed.. Said it wasn't right and he was going to papers. Vile. Ignorant."

Reflecting on her condition during an interview with The Mirror, Cherylee also said: "I wouldn’t not want to have my disability because it’s taught me so many things.

"Even though the pain is horrendous it’s taught me to push through and it’s taught me inner strength. I wouldn’t have the mindset I have if I hadn’t lived through that."

She has since been awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2022 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to Drama and to People with Disabilities.

TV break

During a recent television interview, Cherylee revealed that due to the Coronavirus pandemic, she had to take a break from filming Coronation Street.

When asked by fans in 2021 when she would be returning to the series, she tweeted: "a little while yet, I'm afraid."

Fans said that she would be missed, with one replying: "I like Izzy! She doesn’t get enough good storylines," while a second added: "As long as the actors are safe that’s the main issue."

The actress later appeared on ITV daytime talk show This Morning, where she explained to hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford that she was required to shield due to being clinically vulnerable, as a result of her diagnosis with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

"I’m in a slightly different category to Izzy, I’m slightly more vulnerable than she is but I’ve been shielding this whole time," said Cherylee.

"I’ve had recent complications which has put me into a different category but what that meant was that we had to be extremely careful at home."

She added: "I have been unbelievably fortunate that my employers enabled me to continue shielding after the official shielding guidance ended in March."

However, the actress praised Coronation Street for incorporating a storyline that focused on Izzy's struggle to work from home, highlighting the struggles of disabled workers during the pandemic.

Cherylee said: "What was fantastic about Corrie was they went well how can we tell that story because that story has happened to so many other disabled people over that time.

"I haven’t been anywhere other than a hospital in 16 months maybe is it now and you know we sanitise everything that comes in the house for quite a long time."

The actress later returned to film scenes for Coronation Street from her own home while she was still shielding, revealing that she picked out decor that would match Izzy's character.

Famous husband

Cherylee is not the only famous star in her relationship, as her husband Toby Hadoke is also a well-known comedian and actor.

Along with running the XS Malarkey Comedy Club in Manchester, Toby has also appeared in hit TV series including Phoenix Nights, Emmerdale and Shameless.

He has since joined Cherylee on the set of Coronation Street as Izzy's new neighbour Fergus, who protects Izzy when she threatened with the sack if she does not return back to work, even though she is shielding.

Talking about the storyline, she also revealed to Inside Soap: "I have been very well looked after by ITV, but it wasn’t the same for most of my disabled peers with their employers.

It’s terrifying that people have been made to either go back to work, or lose their livelihoods.

"There’s such an unconscious bias towards disabled people, and I really hope that Corrie viewers will take this story to their hearts."

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