Former Coronation Street actress Sally Ann Matthews is related to another beloved soap star
Sally Ann Matthews played Jenny Bradley(Image: ITV)
Sally Ann Matthews isn’t the only famous Coronation Street star in her family.
The 55-year-old actress first arrived in Weatherfield as Jenny Bradley back in 1986. Soap fans will know that Jenny was Rita Tanner’s (played by Barbara Knox) foster daughter, and the daughter of villain Alan Bradley (Mark Eden), who memorably died after being hit by a tram in Blackpool.
After returning to the soap in 2015, Jenny began dating Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell), before eventually finding love and marrying Johnny Connor (Richard Hawley).
Their relationship survived multiple struggles, but it sadly ended in 2021 when Johnny drowned during the sinkhole disaster.
The drama continued for Jenny when she briefly dated serial killer Stephen Reid (Todd Boyce). Facing mounting financial pressures, Jenny later used money that Stephen had stolen from Carla Connor (Alison King) to secretly buy the Rovers back.
Not long after being scammed by Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan) and her mother, Christina Boyd (Amy Robbins), Jenny bid farewell to Weatherfield in October 2025.
Opening up about her exit to the Mirror, actress Sally previously said: “Every year when your contract comes round, there’s that question, ‘Am I enjoying it?’ If I am, I say, ‘Yes, I’d like to stay.’ When you come to a point where you’re not enjoying it, you say no.”
She went on: “I’m 55 now, I don’t want to waste my time doing stuff that I’m not enjoying with people that I am not enjoying doing it with.”
Away from the long-running ITV soap, fans may be surprised to learn that Sally is not the only actor in her family.
After working with Ancestry to find out more about her roots, Sally learned that her family links were found very close to home.
The actress travelled to Ashton-under-Lyne to meet with a local historian, who revealed that Sally was distantly related to her former co-star Amanda Barrie, who played Corrie favourite Alma Halliwell for 20 years.
Speaking to Radio Times after learning about her distant cousin, Sally said: “Waiting for my Corrie cousin to come around the corner was torture – I was praying it was someone I liked! The joy when I saw it was Amanda was overwhelming and I thought, ‘Well, of course it is, that all makes sense now.’
“We rarely had scenes together but, because of the way we worked back then, we were all in the rehearsal room together and knew everyone really well. I think we share a naughty, slightly bonkers streak.”
The actress continued: “And the fact that the gift of a jug that Amanda gave me when I was 18 has been on every kitchen shelf I’ve ever had – and was one of my most treasured possessions even before I knew – clearly means something.”
Coronation Street airs weekday nights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
