What happened to Maxine Peacock in Coronation Street and where is Tracy Shaw now?
29 October 2021, 13:47
What happened to the actress who played Maxine in Coronation Street?
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Maxine Peacock made her debut on Coronation Street all the way back in 1995, as Ashley Peacock’s first wife.
Played by Tracy Shaw, the character was part of some huge storylines, including her romances with the likes of Curly Watts, Des Barnes, Andy McDonald and Tony Horrocks.
But who was Maxine and what happened to her in Coronation Street?
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Who was Maxine Peacock?
The hairdresser worked at Denise Osbourne's hair salon after being hired by her friend Fiona Middleton and also worked for Audrey Roberts.
She had a one night stand with Fiona's boyfriend Steve McDonald before finding love with butcher Ashley.
The pair married in 1999 but the newlyweds struggled to have children and Ashley later had surgery to correct his fertility problem.
But in 2001 Maxine drunkenly slept with local GP Matt Ramsden and fell pregnant soon after.
Ashley eventually forgave her and agreed to raise baby Joshua as his own without knowing his true biological paternity.
What happened to Maxine Peacock in Coronation Street?
Maxine Peacock was murdered by serial killer Richard Hillman in 2003.
The infamous villain had planned to kill Emily Bishop, so broke into Ashley and Maxine's house on a night when Emily was babysitting Joshua.
Richard planned to make it seem as if the elderly woman had been killed during a burglary but Maxine returned home alone early to see Richard hit Emily over the head with a crowbar.
As Joshua started crying, Maxine tried to run upstairs, but Richard hit her several times with the crowbar and Ashley later returned home to find her dead.
Where is Tracy Shaw now?
Tracy Shaw is still an actress and is currently starring in The Cat and the Canary in theatres across the country.
She married Robert Ashworth in June 2001, but they split and Tracy is now with Cisco Sales Manager Ashley Poundall
Ashley is actually the son of her mum Anne's boyfriend of eight years, Colin.
The couple live in Caversham Heights, Berkshire and have two sons Louis, 16, and Luca, 15.
In 2019, Tracy appeared on Loose Women to talk about taking a break from the spotlight to spend more time with her kids.
She said: “It was a huge pressure just because of the viewing figures [of Coronation street].
“When I had Louie, I used to take him out for a walk with Angela [Griffin] with the push chairs and it just didn’t feel right to have photographers take pictures of the boys and they haven’t got a choice in this.
“I took some time out just because it all got a little bit too much for me and I needed to respect that my kids were going to be brought up in the world I was living in and I felt really uncomfortable about that.”
