'Corrie' actor Kevin Kennedy reveals 'blackout-cum-stroke' made him quit drinking

Kevin Kennedy, who rose to fame as Curly Watts on Coronation Street, has revealed it took a "massive blackout-cum-stroke" to convince him to ditch alcohol.

The 60-year-old actor played the Corrie binman from 1983 until 2003 and suffered struggles with alcoholism throughout the early period of his fame.

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Kennedy experienced a wake-up call when an attempt to go cold turkey in 1998 resulted in a huge medical emergency, which he described to The Sun as "a massive blackout-cum-stroke".

He added: "I came to in the ambulance and it scared the hell out of me.

"I knew I would die if I carried on [drinking] but, emotionally, I didn’t get it. The addiction was telling me it was normal.”

Kennedy confessed that, at the height of his addiction, he would drink a bottle of vodka on his way to set every day, followed by three bottles of wine every night.

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In the wake of his collapse, he revealed his addiction to Corrie bosses and was sent to undergo a rehab programme at famous clinic The Priory.

He now credits the soap with saving his life as he marks 25 years of sobriety, saying his career has gone to the next level since he ditched booze.

"Alcohol held me back, I couldn’t concentrate and made terrible decisions. Quitting alcohol gave me turbo energy," he said.

Kennedy added: "The sense of accomplishment that I feel from performing is better than any drug or booze I’ve experienced in my life."

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After leaving Corrie in 2003, Kennedy moved into music and theatre, performing in numerous musicals including We Will Rock You and Rock of Ages.

Despite the breadth of his post-soap career, Kennedy has spoken on numerous occasions about possibly reprising Curly and even nodded to his Corrie past in the Cleaner Close series of Daz adverts.

"I’ve never understood why actors try to poo-poo their previous work. I love being recognised as Curly. It’s really flattering," said Kennedy.

He added: “Children and old ladies loved him. He was an everyman and it was his job to make people think 'my life's not great but at least I'm not him'.

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"It's a compliment that he's remembered. I’ve had people recognise me as far away as New Zealand and even at the top of the Empire State Building. It’s mad."

Kennedy and his wife Clare now work as motivational speakers, hoping to aid others in their recoveries from addiction.

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