In December’s edition of our Manc of the Month series, we’re paying tribute to a Coronation Street icon who tirelessly gives back to Manchester communities.
Julie Hesmondhalgh is best known as the award-winning actor who portrayed Corrie’s Hayley Cropper for 15 years.
But it’s her work off the screen that makes her such a notable figure in the north west, and a worthy addition to our Manc of the Month series.
Julie Hesmondhalgh as Hayley Cropper in her famous red anorak, with on-screen husband David Neilson. Credit: ITV
Julie, 51, was born just across the Lancashire border in Accrington and has dedicated her life to acting, studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art when she was 18 before carving out a lengthy career on the small screen.
She is, of course, a familiar face to most of us thanks to her time spent as Hayley Cropper, a ground-breaking role as the first transgender character on a British soap.
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Hayley’s storylines on the legendary cobbles saw her rejected and ostracised before she was, eventually, embraced, and Julie says it’s a huge testament to soap operas that they’re able to ‘break prejudice down’.
Back in 2019, she told Nihal Arthanayake on Radio 5’s Live Drive: “I think EastEnders, Brookside, Hollyoaks, Corrie, and Emmerdale have done so much in introducing issues through characters that you love. That’s how you break prejudice down.
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“It’s to pre-judge, and once you know somebody, you can’t judge them by the same criteria anymore.
“When people are snobby about soap operas, I’m always like, that’s the beginning of everything – it’s a way of having conversations with people who are perhaps cut off from other communities.
Julie Hesmondhalgh with Take Back Theatre. Credit: Elspeth Moore, via Take Back Theatre
“I know for myself when I went into that programme as Hayley, a trans character, there was so little understanding about what that meant.
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“It was a joke – even the storyline was brought in as a bit of a joke at the time, and what you have to do is be in people’s living rooms and get people rooting for you to understand the issues around the character and to fall in love with them before that understanding kicks in.”
Julie is now a patron of the charity Trans Media Watch, which is dedicated to improving media coverage of trans and intersex issues.
Her charitable work doesn’t stop there – far from it.
Julie Hesmondhalgh volunteering in Tameside last week. Credit: Twitter @JulieHes
She’s also a patron of Maundy Relief, Marple Drama, WAST, Manchester People’s Assembly, Reuben’s Retreat, The Alex Williams Believe and Achieve Trust, and The Sophie Lancaster Foundation.
On top of that, Julie supports food banks, hospices and arts charities, and once told the Guardian: “You have to admit it, I am a really good person.”
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The actress and Labour party member has spent decades campaigning for various causes, some of which are particularly close to Manchester’s cultural heart.
She was a key player in the Together in One Voice event, a doorstep concert during the first lockdown that also starred Liam Gallagher and Mark Owen.
When the People’s History Museum was facing its greatest uncertainty to date last year and its future was seriously threatened, Julie was quick to pledge her support.
She described it as being her favourite museum in the world.
The red anorak worn by Julie when she played Hayley Cropper has even been included in an exhibition at the museum, alongside other LGBTQ+ artefacts.
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One of her most significant charity projects saw her launch the 500 Acts of Kindness group, where 500 people donate a pound a week, and £500 is given to a nominated person, family or organisation.
She also set up the Take Back Theatre Collective, alongside writer Becx Harrison and visual artist Grant Archer, which tackles the politics of austerity in an artistic way.
A staunch supporter and protecter of the NHS, Julie said in a video for The People’s Assembly Against Austerity: “Sometimes we don’t know how lucky we are to have something until it’s threatened to be taken away from us.
“Now more than ever we need to be fighting for our National Health Service.”
She made the video, wearing a ‘Born in the NHS’ t-shirt, to encourage people to join an organised rally.
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“What we want is to send out a message, loud and clear, to the Government that we are not going to allow our NHS to be eroded and taken away from us.”
Just last week, she was spotted giving up her time to volunteer at a local vaccine centre, praising the NHS workers who are ‘out working in all weathers, all the time’.
Julie has said, on multiple occasions, how much she loves the city of Manchester, for its culture and its people and its activism.
We can say with confidence that Manchester loves her right back.
About Manc of the Month
We all know that Manchester is home to some special people, some born here and others drawn here, and after a bumpy two years that effectively amounted to one big lockdown, it’s these special people that have inspired and led us through the tough times – so we decided to start a series that shines a light on those who should be celebrated.
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Following on from our ‘The Mancs of the Year’ feature towards the end of 2020, Manc of the Month officially kicked off in July 2021, with Marcus Rashford MBE, Manchester’s mural king Akse P-19, the local chef feeding the region’s vulnerable families Mary-Ellen McTague, and Manchester’s groundbreaking new Council leader Bev Craig among previous honourees.
Featured image: Publicity picture / Granada Television
TV & Showbiz
A first look into the highly-anticipated TV soap crossover ‘Corriedale’ has just dropped
Thomas Melia
The wait is nearly over for TV soap fans, as producers behind the highly-anticipated ‘Corriedale’ crossover have just dropped an exclusive first look.
Whether you’re team Coronation Streetor team Emmerdale, this show has all areas covered as it merges both the iconic TV soaps into an hour-long special.
Now, it feels like Christmas has come early as pictures of two very distinctive cast members smiling next to each other while filming the crossover episode have been released.
In the newly-released images we can see Vicky Myers, known for playing the assertive and dedicated DS Lisa Swain, representing the Manchester-based production Coronation Street.
Vicky Myers (DS Lisa Swain) and Danny Miller (Aaron Dingle) pictured together ahead of upcoming TV soap crossover Corriedale / Credit: ITV Press Centre (Supplied)
Stood by her side is Danny Miller known for his role as the complex and vulnerable Aaron Dingle in Leeds-based hit soap Emmerdale.
Both can be seen on-set and are pictured in front of a white trailer filming for the upcoming Corriedale special.
Although the shows are set just a one hour’s drive away from each other, separated by The Pennines, this soap special marks the first time that characters from each drama will have ever crossed paths.
Most details for this soap crossover are being kept very tight-lipped although filming kicked off in September with this latest update marking the first-ever major cast announcement for Corriedale.
ITV Executive Producer for Continuing Drama Iain Macleod said: “It’s beyond exciting that filming is under way on Corriedale.
“There is a massive buzz around both the Leeds and Manchester sites and the images coming out of the shoot are utterly spectacular. And that’s before we’ve even got to all the brilliant transpennine interactions between characters from the different shows!
“As a soap fan myself, I think my head is going to explode when the episode airs next year. It will be mind-blowing, historical and unmissable.”
Corriedale is coming to our TV screens in early 2026 and heralds the start of a new soap power hour with 30 minute episodes of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale to air every weekday.
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman to step down from Strictly Come Dancing
Danny Jones
Long-serving Strictly Come Dancing presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have announced that they will be stepping down from the beloved reality TV competition after more than three decades between them.
The Strictly team will, of course, ‘keep dancing’, but this still feels like the end of an era.
While Claudia Winkleman only became a joint co-anchor back in 2010 in preparation for the legendary Sir Bruce Forsyth’s eventual retirement in 2014, Tess Daly has been one of the two lead presenters since the hit smash-hit UK show first started way back in 2004.
Boasting a cumulative and incredible 31 years as the respective lead faces on one of the nation’s favourite IPs, Daly and Winkleman released a joint video on their social media pages confirming the bittersweet news.
Writing in the caption on Instagram, the pair said: “We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream. We were always going to leave together, and now feels like the right time.
“We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series, and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show.
“They’re the most brilliant team, and we’ll miss them every day. We will cry when we say the last ‘keep dancing’, but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza.”
Although Winkleman, 53, began as the presenter of the spin-off programme ‘It Takes Two’, it now seems hard to imagine the main show without either of them.
Confirming that they will be departing the British telly favourite at the end of the current series, which is around a month into its 23rd series.
Daly, 56, went on to share a further statement addressing the decision to quit the Strictly lineup after such a lengthy stay on BBC One.
It goes without saying that, much like when ‘Brucey’ left 11 years ago now, the show just won’t be the same without them.
For now, all we can say is thanks for all the memories, and we’d better see them back in the ballroom or popping up for special cameos in Blackpool again one day soon.
What do you make of the announcement, Strictly fans – and who do you think should replace them?