Former Brookside star Claire Sweeney has revealed how it took her a little while to understand just how famous her on-stage co-star Patrick Swayze really was, and admits she owes him an apology
Hollywood superstar Patrick Swayze made his début in London’s West End in 2006 when he appeared as inveterate gambler Nathan Detroit in the stage revival of Frank Loesser’s classic musical Guys and Dolls. Starring opposite him, as love interest Miss Adelaide, was a delighted Claire Sweeney
“I got to snog Swayze every night,” she happily recalled on the Speakmans’ Hope Clinic podcast.
But when she and Patrick first started rehearsals Claire, then riding high on the back of appearances in the first series of both Celebrity Big Brother and Strictly Come Dancing, hadn’t realised quite how famous her co-star actually was.
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Claire recalled: “I was not a fan. I was not into him in Dirty Dancing and all that. I preferred Ray Winstone and people like that. He was not for me.”
She said that Patrick seemed “nervous” and was always reluctant to leave the rehearsal studio whenever they took a break.
Eventually, Claire decided that enough was enough and forced him to go out on a lunch break with her: “I took him to the local pub. Then I took him for a sushi. I went, come on, we’re going out to stop all this behaviour.”
Claire said that she had assumed that Patrick thought he was more famous than he actually was, but then on the show’s opening night she finally understood why her co-star was so wary of being seen out in public.
Claire recalled: “There were riot police in the street, I’ll ever forget it, outside the Piccadilly Theatre, the whole street was like The Beatles were there.
“It was full of people screaming, couldn’t get a ticket for the show. And I was like, ah, okay, yeah, he’s a big star. Sorry, Patrick, I underrated you there.”
The Piccadilly Theatre revival had been a particularly star-studded production, with the likes of Neil Morrissey and Miami Vice star Don Johnson also appearing as Nathan Detroit at various points, while Claire followed Sarah Lancashire and Sally Ann Triplett as Adelaide.
Claire has not only kept busy on stage, appearing shows such as Hairspray and Legally Blonde as well as writing her own theatre production Sex and the Suburbs, but she’s maintained a steady presence on our screens too.
In April 2023, the former Brookside star went back to her soap roots when joined the cast of Coronation Street as Cassandra Plummer.
She’s not afraid of a little reality competition either, following her Let’s Dance for Comic Relief and Strictly appearances with a stint in the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice.
Patrick’s career was cut short when he died of pancreatic cancer in 2009 at the age of just 57.
Claire Sweeney appears on Countdown on Channel 4 at 2.10pm this afternoon (Friday, July 25).