Claire Sweeney: "How I landed my dream theatre role playing Miss Hannigan in Annie."

After stand out roles in Brookside and Coronation Street, as well as theatre shows Chicago, Guys and Dolls and Legally Blonde, the actress and singer and TV personality, 55, will bring the touring production of the classic family favourite to Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre later this month.

Sweeney says: “I love performing at the Bradford Alhambra. It’s got to be one of the most beautiful theatres in the country. I remember going to see Cannon and Ball in panto when I was a teenager, I travelled up from Liverpool to Bradford, and I always like seeing Billy Pearce do his panto there.

“I’ve got lots of friends who live in Yorkshire too. It’s a very special place to me.”

Always versatile, Sweeney is a triple threat and has worked consistently and successfully throughout her varied career. “I do work hard,” she acknowledges. “But to be honest, I love my job so much that it doesn’t feel like it. Even if I turn up to work tired, the minute I get on that stage, I come to life.”

In August, Sweeney finished a three-year stint playing Cassie Plummer in ITV soap Coronation Street. She admits, “I’ve been very, very lucky. Like Hannigan, Corrie was a dream role as well. That for me was always like The One. So I feel very lucky that I managed to do that. I used to skip into work. It was wonderful, I laughed every single day. Now I'm loving Hannigan too. So I feel very blessed.”

The production of Annie will also travel to the Grand Opera House in York in January and the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield next February as part of its UK tour.

So what is it about the part that appeals to her so much? “The role is iconic. Miss Hannigan’s funny, she's tragic, she's vulnerable, she's nasty. When I got the role I thought I want to find moments of vulnerability within her because she's outwardly comedy evil, and I thought, I’ll see if I can find the reason why she's like that so I’ve just dug a bit deeper. And I'm enjoying it. And they say never work with kids or animals. Well, it’s just not true. We've got the most gorgeous dog in the show called Dizzy who’s a dream. And the young kid actors are brilliant and so professional.”

Away from her career, Sweeney shares son Jaxon, 12, with ex-fiancé Daniel Reilly. The pair who were friends before they started dating, got engaged in 2012 before they split in 2014. They reunited when they discovered she was pregnant only to break up nine months after Jaxon was born.

Becoming a mother has been the star’s biggest achievement. She says simply: “He’s brought me joy. Just pure joy. And I think, gosh, I couldn't imagine life without him. He's my best mate. He makes me laugh. He's a smart little kid. He's great. I’ve been blessed to have a child. I always wanted to be a mum.” And while she has previously admitted being a single mum was “really hard”, she says, “I do get a lot of help, so I’m lucky. I’ve got family, I’ve got people there to help me.”

It was her choice to leave Coronation Street to go on the road with Annie. But it was a tough decision.

“When I spoke to Corrie, they were absolutely brilliant. We chatted and I told them it was a dream role, they were great. They gave me a lovely exit story which was quite powerful and I left at the beginning of August. To be honest, I think one of the highlights of my career was getting into Coronation Street. I’d grown up watching that show and always loved it. It was almost an out of body experience for me to suddenly be in the Rovers and living in Jack and Vera's house.

“Bill Roach is a legend to work with, Si Gregson (Steve Macdonald and Kate Ford (Tracey Barlow). I really miss them because we had so much laughter together. Cassie was a really interesting character and the way they wrote her was brilliant. You look at the journey she had when she first came into Corrie three years ago (2023) when she was a drug addict. And then she found her way and found love with Steve Macdonald.”

However, her character left under a cloud in dramatic scenes which prompts the question of whether she will ever return to the soap? “I don't know. It's up to Corrie and obviously it’s their prerogative,” she says.

Home is Wimbledon, south London, andwhile she is touring the UK, she keeps fit with Hot Yoga and Pilates to stay on top of her intense schedule and, she says, she has never felt better. “I’m doing a show every night and big numbers so I'm really looking after myself. I eat sensibly and rest which is very important too. I feel strong and in good shape.”

Love is currently not a priority for Sweeney, who’s dated actor Tony Hibbard and theatre producer Adam Kenwright, in the past. “I’m just engrossed with work at the moment and with Jaxon. If I meet someone, great, if not, that’s fine.”

Her last relationship was with world boxing champion Ricky Hatton. The pair enjoyed an eight-month romance after they met on Dancing on Ice and remained “dear friends” until his tragic death in September 2025 aged 46. “I feel very blessed that he was in my life. He was wonderful, a great man. He was a legend. A good, good man,” she has previously said.

While the loss was devastating, she has handled her grief by focusing on work and family. She says that appearing in Coronation Street has changed her recognition with the public.

“Very much so. People absolutely love Corrie. It's definitely in the nation's heart. People come up to me and just say, oh, we love the show, or we loved Cassie. And stuff like that.”

Sweeney is also the OG when it comes to reality shows such as Celebrity Big Brother and Strictly Come Dancing appearing on their first series back in 2001 and 2004 respectively.

“I loved Strictly, but at the time, I don't think I put in the same work as they do now. I’d just do a few hours a day rehearsal because I was filming 60 Minute Makeover at the same time. Now it is huge.”

And after three decades in showbiz, Sweeney is hoping to show a different side to her in the future. She adds, “I would like a documentary, and more acting, something gritty. I’d love to do a Guy Ritchie project like The Gentleman.”

She doesn’t worry about getting older. “I’m embracing every age,” she says. “I just feel very lucky. I've got my boy. I'm working. I'm healthy. I'm just grateful and blessed for where I am now. You can't stop ageing, so why stress over it? It’s a gift to get older. Just enjoy it. I just stay positive with what I’m doing. I always try and see the good in life.”

Annie plays at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford (23-28 November 2026), the Grand Opera House, York (12-16 January 2027) and the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield (23-27 February 2027).