Coronation Street’s Alison King reveals secret struggles as fans show support
The star shared the life issues that had been affecting her.
Alison King has opened up about a series of struggles that she endured while filming her major 2026 Coronation Street storylines. The Carla Connor actor faced criticism earlier this year for her lack of screen time, despite huge events in the ITV soap such as the Corriedale crossover and the Swarla wedding.
In a video posted to TikTok, the ITV soap star explained what had been going on behind the scenes, including health issues and the death of her mother last year.
“At the beginning of the year…My nervous system seemed to need rebalancing,” she began.
“I lost my mum last year, last August, and then at the beginning of this year, I got a chest infection from two of the gorgeous little babies at work.
“Actually, when we were filming the wedding, I had been coughing and coughing and coughing…My right lung was hurting, my chest was hurting anyway, it was sick of the coughing, it was inflamed.”
She said that a large cough while on set made her feel like she tore the intercostal muscle in her chest.
Alison also explained that for “months before” she couldn’t exercise due to her illness, and that she had gotten depressed because “she had put on loads of weight”.
“Because of my nervous system and not doing anything, I was really struggling to breathe a full breath; I couldn’t swim, which I do all the time because that’s my therapy; I couldn’t do anything.”
She said that ever since struggling with this chest infection, she feels as if she has had “a little twitch” in her eye and that a “lot of other little life stuff” had contributed to her nervous system feeling dysregulated.
Alison assured fans that she is feeling “good and happy” now, before undergoing reflexology and Reiki with a friend in the video, which she described as “amazing”.
Several users took to social media to offer their support, with one writing: “This shows that we never know what these people are going through bts, some people here are always complaining about something, about screen time, storylines, even hating on them, so I think we could and SHOULD be a little more empathetic towards them.”
Another said: “God, she’s been through so much lately and still managed to get through some massive scenes and storylines nobody deserves a break more than her i wish her all the health and happiness in the world.”
A third commented: “Ali lost her mom in August last year and she was sick for months this year to the point that she couldn’t breathe properly, and people were here mad about her ‘lack of enthusiasm’ in an interview or ‘lack of screen time’ so yeah, let this be a lesson, they’re human beings.”
