ITV Coronation Street Tracy Barlow Star Kate Ford's Love Life And Painful Divorce From TV Husband

Tracy Barlow might be breaking husband Steve McDonald’s heart in Coronation Street, but it was the other way round for actress Kate Ford in real life who was left devastated by her own divorce

We look at actress Kate Ford’s life off screen as Tracy Barlow appears ready to quit the cobbles.

According to rumors, Tracy Barlow, who is known for devouring men, is reportedly planning to move from Coronation Street to sunny Spain after 22 years, leaving her husband Steve McDonald in shock over her extramarital affair with Tommy Orpington, his football idol. However, Kate, the actress, has acknowledged that she has had hardships in the past.

The actress, 47, was raised in Salford and went to school in Cumbria and Lancashire before enrolling in the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art to pursue her acting studies. She made her acting debut in a music video for The Beatles’ song “Free as a Bird” in 1995, before to being cast in the Corrie part.

Although she has dated actors like Steve McDonald, Rob Donovan, and Charlie Stubbs, she is a single mother of Otis, who is fifteen years old, off screen. Bart Ruspoli, an actor nominated for a BAFTA, was briefly connected to Kate. When Kate played a bit part in EastEnders in 2000, the two got to know each other on the set.

The couple never dated for very long, and Ford never revealed too much about her romantic life after their brief courtship. She then married TV producer Jon Connerty in 2007. The films Sugar Free Farm (2016), Beauty & the Beast: The Ugly Face of Prejudice (2011), and Police: Night Shift 999 (2022) are well-known works by Jon Connerty.

After giving birth to a boy in 2008, Kate and her husband parted ways in September of 2013. Ford revealed that the split was “incredibly painful” in an interview with The Sun, but that her acting in Coronation Street allowed her to move on. “When Jon and I first parted it was quite hard to put my personal life aside,” she stated. “But then focusing on my work became therapeutic. It’s referred to as “Doctor Theatre” since acting requires you to put everything else aside.”

“We put a lot of effort into making it work,” she said. However, there came a time when we realized we needed to file for divorce. It was no longer the same and things had changed. But the ache was unbearable. After we broke up, I had trouble getting out of bed for a while. I would drop Otis off at school and return to bed until I picked him up because I wasn’t working at the time.

Tracy originally appeared on the cobbles in 1977, and since 2002, actress Kate Ford has played the feisty role. Tracy had previously been portrayed by Dawn Acton from 1988 to 1999, Holly Chamarette from 1985 to 1988, and Christabel Finch from 1977 to 1983.