A Coronation Street star has revealed what it was like growing up gay just outside of Liverpool.
Anthony Crank, best known to fans as Dean Turnbull, returned to the Cobbles in August to reprise his role as a villainous drug dealer. This is the 49-year-old’s fourth stint on the ITV soap and he is set to be involved in various dramatic storylines in the near future.
The actor, who is from Warrington, has opened up on what his life was like off-screen before he became a familiar face for many up and down the country. The former TV presenter touched on how he found coming out as gay at a time when gay men were the target of a media campaign.
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The actor told the ECHO: “It was the AIDS epidemic for me, I remember, being a kid and worrying and being so aware of it. The onslaught of the media and all the terrible reporting that they did at the time made everyone so scared and made the world a very homophobic place to live in. It is very much an integrative part of my life and my life story, but because of the fear of it more than anything.”
Anthony found solace in the 90s club scene – in particular, what is now named as Manchester’s Canal Street and Liverpool’s Pride Quarter. The model, who has also appeared on Hollyoaks and Shameless, travelled to the nearby cities regularly to find an LGBTQ+ community as Warrington, back then, wasn’t “a diverse town at all”.
He said: “There were moments when everything seemed like it was going to get better with the glory days and at times, it was really good and everything was really happy. It felt like we were on the verge of some kind of change – everything was colour with the youth culture movement and house music and raves.
“I was so wrapped up in this that even though the homophobia was still rife and judgement was very apparent, it felt like it was a period of acceptance. Now, it’s clear nothing has changed and look where we are at with everything. It has all gone sour again.”
Anthony said despite the increase in homophobia and transphobia in recent years, he is glad to see so many LGBTQ+ youth be true to themselves. However, he recognises more needs to be done to protect the community moving forward.
The Trinity College graduate’s character Dean is currently terrorising Cassie Plumber amid her drug addiction. Prior to this, Anthony was seen on Corrie in scenes linked to Jim McDonald’s armed robbery and in the same role, attending the burglary scene at Janice Battersby’s house.
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