Brooke Vincent has said she is struggling with grief a year after the death of her beloved grandmother. The 33-year-old former Coronation Street star was left devastated when her grandma Joan passed away on October 5, 2024, and she’s now confessed she’s still grappling with the pain more than 12 months on.

During an appearance on the Live, Laugh, Luke podcast, Brooke fought back tears as she spoke candidly about her loss. She said: “I feel I’m at a stage where I can talk without feeling like someone’s punched me in the throat.

“For a long time I felt like someone was punching me in the throat whenever I spoke about it. It comes on to you at the most random times. I struggle with it.

“My nana, she probably would be proud, but I don’t feel like I’m taking her proudness from you. I think when you lose somebody who is that close to you, you just feel [like] ‘F*** everything else’ because nothing will hurt me as much as this.”

Brooke went on to insist her two children Mex, six, and Monroe, four, with with footballer Kean Bryan have helped her deal with her grief. She said: “It’s so hard. Luckily for me I had the kids. I wasn’t allowed to lie in bed and cry because I had to get up and take them to school and mask it a little bit.

“But what I did do, if I was in the house on my own I’d just put my nana’s song on and think about her and force myself to cry and get it out. Because I wanted there to be a time when I’m drunk, when I’m sober and her song will come on and it doesn’t feel like someone has punched me in the throat.”

The actress, who played Sophie Webster in the ITV soap opera from 2004 until 2019 when she stepped back after becoming a mother, was also asked on the podcast if she would ever consider returning to Corrie. She said: “I don’t know when I’m going to come back is my honest answer. I’ve seen them a lot recently.

“I think at this point they’re probably just thinking: ‘Will you p*** off home’. But I’ve been part of that work space for 16 years and it’s like going back home. I walked back in and I seen all the sound boys and make-up girls and it was like being home. So I’d never say never and I’d love to just nip back.”