Coronation Street actress Sally Dynevor, who has played Sally Metcalfe in the ITV soap since 1986, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 when she was 46 years old
Coronation Street star Sally Dynevor has revealed she would portray her character’s breast cancer storyline “very differently” following her own personal battle with the disease.
The 62-year-old, who has played Sally Metcalfe in the beloved ITV soap since 1986, received her own breast cancer diagnosis in 2009 at the age of 46. In a remarkable coincidence, the actress discovered she had the illness on the very same day she filmed the scene in which her character broke the news to her on-screen husband.
Opening up to Prima magazine, she admitted she would handle the storyline in a completely different manner having lived through the experience herself.
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She said: “I think there are moments in the show that, like the breast cancer storyline, which, if I went back, I think I would have done very differently. In the sense that because I got it myself, I realised what it was like to go through breast cancer and how much you hide your pain from people you love.
“I think I didn’t play it that way. I played it that Sally was very emotional and upset, and I think that now I would have gone back and played it completely differently because real-life experiences make you go, ‘Ah, I shouldn’t have done that, I shouldn’t have done this’.”
Sally added: “The first day when I came back after having six months off… I felt incredibly emotional and so grateful that… I’d not taken it for granted at all, but to go away and think, ‘Will I ever go back?’ and then to be doing what you enjoy doing, you’re just so grateful for having that opportunity again.”
Dynevor called the role the “perfect job” and said she never imagined in a “million years” she would remain on the iconic cobbles for four decades.
She said: “I just thought it was going to be a year at the most, but I look back now and I think, ‘Gosh, four decades, that is a long time.’ Not many people are in the same job for 40 years any more, let alone acting.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to retire. I’ll stay here as long as they want me; if they don’t want me any more, I’ll still try to do something, because the idea of retirement just sounds awful to me!
“When you love what you do, why would you want to retire? I come into work every day and I’m surrounded by wonderful young people who are showing me what’s going on in the world and the fashions, and they’re exciting and interesting. I love young people. So the idea of just packing it all in and sitting at home and going, ‘Right, what shall I do today?’ Just absolutely not.”
The star is married to Emmerdale scriptwriter Tim Dynevor and the couple have three children, including Phoebe – who featured in the smash-hit Netflix drama Bridgerton. Dynevor received an MBE for services to drama in the 2021 New Year Honours.
* The June 2026 issue of Prima is now on sale featuring the full interview with Sally Dynevor.
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