Coronation Street star Sue Devaney has spoken out about her character Debbie Webster’s devastating vascular dementia diagnosis and her future on the ITV soap
Sue Devaney, who portrays Debbie Webster on Coronation Street, discussed her character’s heart-wrenching storyline during Thursday’s episode of Lorraine.
Fans of the soap will remember that Debbie was diagnosed with vascular dementia earlier this year, a secret she initially kept to herself, confiding only in her younger brother Carl Webster.
In a poignant turn of events, Debbie chose to end her relationship with a bewildered Ronnie Bailey after learning about her condition, not wanting him to become her carer. To this day, he remains unaware of her diagnosis.
During Wednesday night’s episode, Debbie confessed to Bernie Winter that she found it difficult to be in the same room as Ronnie, leading them to retreat to her hotel’s bar instead.
However, upon arriving at the Chariot Square bar and finding Brody Michaelis there enjoying a drink with a friend, Debbie lost her cool, particularly when he failed to show ID. In her anger, Debbie grabbed his drink and smashed it on the bar, reports Belfast Live.
Later in the week, Bernie becomes concerned for Debbie when she forgets to pay at the cafe. Subsequently, Debbie informs Ronnie and Leanne Battersby that she needs to cancel the awards ceremony due to a flood at the hotel, but Leanne offers to host it at Speed Daal.
The situation takes a distressing turn when Debbie suddenly collapses. As she regains consciousness, Kevin and Abi Webster insist she must go to hospital.
This leads to Debbie revealing that she already knows what’s wrong – she has dementia….
Discussing her character’s journey on Thursday’s Lorraine, Sue, 57, who stars as Debbie in the ITV soap, spoke about her future on the show following last year’s announcement that her character would ultimately die.
Sue confidently stated: “She’s not going anywhere yet!”, and further reassured fans by saying, “I know my story’s going to go on well into 2027, Debbie’s not going anywhere.”
Addressing the storyline involving her character’s diagnosis, she said, “I think that’s what you think: ‘Oh she’s been diagnosed with this, that’s it!’ But it’s young onset dementia and it’s how she deals with that.”
Sue hinted at what’s to come for Debbie, mentioning: “I think at some point, Debbie’s going to start a choir maybe, I don’t know.”
Lorraine Kelly responded to the discussion by highlighting the positive aspect of the storyline: “It shows that there’s still hope there and that’s the other thing, I think that is the thing your character can show. Yes, she’s living with this terrible thing, but actually you can still have a life.”
