William Roache is facing backlash from the fans and family of actress Anne Kirkbride today, after revealing his version of events about the months leading up to her death.
Anne and William appeared alongside each other as Coronation Street couple Deirdre and Ken Barlow for 35 years, and at the time of Anne's death from cancer last year, William paid tribute to his friend, saying her death had hit him "so personally."
Now though, the actor has spoken out about the circumstances surrounding her unexpected death – which happened during a three-month hiatus from Coronation Street – and Anne's family are blasting him for overstepping the mark.
In quotes published by The Mirror and other media outlets today, William describes Anne as "an alcoholic" and "depressed" and said that her hiatus was a last resort from Coronation Street's producers, unrelated to her cancer diagnosis.
"What happened to Anne was… she was was an alcoholic," he is quoted as saying. "She was on drugs for depression. She had been an alcoholic but she was off the drink.
"She was on anti-depressant drugs all her life and then she just started crying a lot and I spent half my life sort of comforting her and getting her back on track.
William also said that Anne's distress was affecting the Coronation Street filming schedule, and that certain scenes had to be delayed because she was "weepy and wailing."
He claims that ITV gave Anne three months to "sort herself out" during which time she was diagnosed with cancer.
"They [doctors] found her right lung full of cancer and she had a brain tumour. They took her into hospital on the Friday and she died on the Monday. In a way it was a blessing."
Anne's husband David Kirkbride has confirmed that his late wife would have "described herself as an alcoholic," but adds that she "hadn't touched a drop in 30 years."
Meanwhile, fans over on Twitter have also hit back at Ken for oversharing about his late friend:
There has been no response from William's rep as yet.
