Coronation Street’s Simon Gregson reveals coronavirus battle and admits he feels 'awful'

10 April 2020, 11:44 | Updated: 10 April 2020, 11:48

The actor, who plays Steve McDonald in the ITV soap, urged everyone to 'stay safe' after revealing he was battling the killer bug.

Coronation Street's Simon Gregson has revealed he is battling coronavirus, admitting to fans he feels "bl**dy awful".

The actor, who plays Steve McDonald in the ITV soap, announced the news on social media last night and urged his followers to "stay safe" as the pandemic continues.

The 45-year-old took to Twitter to share his health news, writing: "1st day out of bed today starting to feel a little better after contracting the virus, my main symptom was gastric and still is bloody awful but lucky to not have respiratory. Stay safe everyone x."

Read more: How far in advance are Coronation Street, EastEnders and Emmerdale filmed?

The soap star appeared to be in recovery from the deadly virus but still received a string of well wishes from his colleagues and fans.

Elle Jade Mulvaney, who plays Simon's on-screen daughter Amy Barlow, wrote: "Get well soon."

Former Corrie favourite Connor McIntyre, who starred as scheming Pat Phelan until 2008, added: "Glad to hear you're on the other side of this my friend .... nice n easy does it."

While Chris Collins actor Matthew Marsden said: "Hey bud. Glad to see you are getting better. Here's to a speedy recovery!"

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Simon, who shares three sons – Henry, 4, Harry, 10, and Alfie, 12 – with wife Emma Gleave, has been in lockdown since ITV bosses decided to close the set due to COVID-19 fears.

Last month, the producers behind the soap said in a statement: "ITV has sadly taken the decision to suspend production of the soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale with effect from Monday 23 March.

"We’ve been doing our best to carry on filming, whilst adhering to the Government’s latest health guidelines, to ensure we’ve episodes of both soaps airing on ITV until at least the early summer.

"However, the health and well-being of the production teams, actors, crew and their families is of paramount importance to us and we now feel that the time has come to stop filming.

"We’d like to thank our viewers for their support and hope they continue to enjoy both soaps in the coming months."

Read more: Coronation Street dog Eccles dies after 14 years in devastating storyline

According to reports, the cast of both Corrie and Emmerdale have reached an agreement with ITV to ensure they won't be left "uncompensated" for their lack of work.

The actors are currently in self-isolation and unable to film scenes after production was cancelled back in March.

The news comes as statistics reveal over 65,000 Brits have been diagnosed with the deadly bug – with many more unconfirmed cases suspected.

Almost 8,000 people in the UK have lost their lives to coronavirus, while the worldwide death toll has tipped over 95,000.