Actress Nicola Thorp confirmed her departure from Coronation Street two months ago, but she’s still making headlines in Manchester.
Joined by fellow Corrie alumnus Anthony Cotton — they played Nicola Rubinstein and Sean Tully respectively — Nicola rightly shut down anti-gay protestors at Manchester Pride this weekend.
Appearing on a special Coronation Street-themed float Nicola cried out to protesters: “It’s a shame that you felt you needed to show your presence here today. You and your beliefs are not welcome here. You are not welcome to come and judge our sexuality.
“We will not come to preach at your church. This is our church. Show some respect.”
Nicola’s rallying cry was met with loud cheers from supporters along the march.
Protesters were carrying placards with anti-LGBTQ+ slogans on them such as “Pride goes before destruction” and “be sure your sin will find you out”.
Earlier in the day, Nicola had told the Manchester Evening News how important she felt the Pride march was for the gay community, describing it as “a statement on activism”.
“The thing with Pride is it started off as a statement of activism and now it’s seen as a celebration – but it’s both of those things,” she said.
“It’s a celebration of Pride for the LGBT community, but also it’s a statement of activism to say actually there’s still so much further to go in terms of rights for the gay and trans community.”
Thorp left Coronation Street after a single year in June when we saw her leaving for Bristol with her on-screen son and Eileen Grimshaw (played by Sue Cleaver).
She thanked fans via a video message which said it had been “an absolute treat” to be involved “in Phelan’s demise” and praised “the most incredible year” on the show.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV.
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