A beloved Coronation Street star has shared what she calls two “heart-wrenching” moments from the filming of their untimely death.
Actor Paul Foreman, who plays Peter Ash on soap operas, lost his fight against motor neurone disease sixteen months after he initially displayed symptoms.
Motor neurone disease (MND) is defined by the NHS as “an uncommon condition that affects the brain and nerves.” It results in weakness that progressively worsens.
Paul became confined to his home after gradually losing his capacity to move and eat in recent months.
The celebrity, whose last episode aired on Monday, September 7, has now revealed the two most difficult situations he had while filming the sequences.
He told the Liverpool Echo: ‘It was quite hard to not get emotional during the scene.
‘The other cast members are giving those beautiful goodbyes, and I’ve got to pretend to not hear it.’
‘And especially once he does pass, it’s that thing of trying not to breathe at all, which gets a bit tricky after a while!’
Paul’s final storyline involved husband Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank), who was left panicking when he lost his phone on a night out.
Most of his photos of and with his husband were on the phone, and Billy was distraught at the thought of losing so many mementos with Paul’s death imminent.
As Billy left to look for his phone, the unthinkable happened.
While he is gone, the couple’s daughter Summer Spellman (Matilda Freeman) and Paul’s mother Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) found Paul unresponsive on the sofa.
After realising that he was struggling to breathe, they rushed to call an ambulance – terrified that Billy would not make it back in time.
Furthermore, Billy was totally unaware that Paul was battling for his life, which he finally loses, because he had misplaced his phone.
In April 2023, Paul, a former hairstylist, started losing dart throws and dropping glasses.
That same month, Paul received his MND diagnosis, and ever since, fans have been witness to his suffering as he and his family have tried to accept his condition.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most prevalent type of MND, is a condition that notoriously affected Stephen Hawking.
Individuals with motor neurone disease typically live for two to five years after symptoms begin, but 10% live for 10 years or more.
Stephen defied the odds by surviving for 55 years – first showing symptoms in 1963 when he was 21 years old before dying in 2018 at 76.
Paul first appeared on screens in 2018 as the cellmate of established character David Platt (Jack Shepherd).
A while after his introduction, Paul was revealed to be the twin brother of established character Gemma Winter
Actor Peter paid tribute to his on-screen partner Daniel ahead of his exit from the show.
Speaking at the Radio Times Soap Awards, he said, according to The Sun: ‘Working with Daniel from day one has been amazing. We have so much fun.
‘And, yeah, obviously because he has a personal connection to MND, he’s a great source of information and insight.
‘And, I’ll very much miss working with him.’
