STARING up through a dazed haze from an ambulance stretcher, Kevin Kennedy knew if he didn't give up drinking, it'd kill him.
The Coronation Street legend, who played binman Norman ‘Curly’ Watts, had collapsed and suffered a seizure after going two days without alcohol in May 1998.
Fresh from a holiday "hammering" the booze in Barbados with wife Clare, Kevin had decided to go cold turkey.
While out shopping together on a hot day in Didsbury, Manchester, he downed a Diet Coke and moments later suffered a "massive blackout-come-stroke".
He tells The Sun: “I came to in the ambulance and it scared the hell out of me. I knew I would die if I carried on but emotionally I didn’t get it, the addiction was telling me it was normal.”
Weeks later Kevin was packed off to The Priory rehab clinic after that "first moment of clarity” pushed him to finally come clean about his secret drinking habit to Corrie bosses.
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Despite downing a bottle of vodka on his way to work every day, followed by up to three bottles of wine a night, he'd hidden his addiction from his cobbles colleagues for over a decade.
Reflecting on that moment as he approaches 25 years sober, Kevin says he firmly believes Corrie "saved my life".
He says: “I had been a maintenance drinker for years and was never out of control. I was at a steady level of inebriation at all times.
"I knew my drinking wasn’t normal – no one else I knew drank in the morning, cancelled plans because they couldn’t get a drink or only went on holidays where they could drink the most – but I couldn’t stop.
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7"I wasn't thinking clearly. Even when my wife left me I wasn't devastated or upset, and didn't do anything to win her back.
"I thought it was a good thing because I could drink on my own without anyone nagging me or having to hide my addiction."
Hungover at audition
Kevin was battling a hangover when he bagged the role of Curly at a last minute audition in 1983 – a year after his professional stage debut at The Greenwich Theatre.
He recalls: “I caught the train extremely hungover after a wrap party to go up to Manchester from Cardiff.
“I read for the part on Sunday and started filming on Monday. I had a suspicion they really wanted me because they wouldn’t normally leave casting until the last minute like that.”
Curly was only meant to appear in four episodes, but Kevin was so popular producers offered him a permanent contract.
He admits it was "odd" being famous aged 22 in his hometown of Manchester, but he "loved all of the attention".
"I could still do normal things like play football and go to the pub," he says. "Unlike my colleagues I wasn’t getting snapped in a headlock outside of Stringfellows.”
One of our favourite games on Corrie was with Charlie Lawson [who played Jim McDonald] when he ordered KFC. We would eat it and leave the remains in the box
Despite his worsening booze addiction, Kevin looks back on his time in Weatherfield fondly.
He says: “We took the p*** out of each other all of the time and used to play pranks, it was a great leveller.
“One of our favourite games was with Charlie Lawson [who played Jim McDonald] when he ordered KFC. We would eat it and leave the remains in the box.
"Sometimes there would be an explosion of expletives, and other times he just laughed it off.
“The late, great Roy Barraclough [aka Alec Gilroy] was a lot of fun and mischievous onset too.
“For one scene I had to walk into The Rovers, and to make me laugh he had a knife in the Sooty Box trying to get the money out.”
Singing career
Having got sober, Kevin began pursuing his other great love – music.
He'd played in bands for decades, starting out at school with pal Johnny Marr, now guitarist with The Smiths.
Kevin claims it was “a great Mancunian secret” when he began gigging around the city while appearing in the soap, and in 2000, he found himself sat in front of one of the country's biggest record producers – Simon Cowell.
He says: “It was a time when it felt like every soap star in the world was releasing music, so I thought I had to be a bit sneaky and sent my tape in under a pseudonym.
“I thought if it was released under Norman Watts they wouldn’t buy it. I didn’t want Simon to know who I was.
“When they invited us into the studio, Simon was really surprised but smiled at me. He really enjoyed that we had tricked him by using our collective brains and imagination.
“This was before The X Factor and before Simon was God. He was just a straight-talking record producer when I met him.”
Simon Cowell really enjoyed that we had tricked him… This was before The X Factor. He was just a straight-talking record producer
His record Bull Nation came out later that year, and while it “didn’t do brilliantly”, it enabled him to go on tour.
Eventually the pressure of two jobs became too much, and Kevin left Corrie in September 2003.
He says: “I found myself filming in The Rovers Return on the afternoon and by the evening I was on a plane to America to perform that night and all weekend.
“Something had to give. I wanted to do more gigs and Coronation Street was getting fed up of me because I wasn’t always available to film scenes.
“Plus there was only me – a single occupant – in the house on the cobbles and they needed to bring in more characters to expand other storylines, so I had to go.
“I did very well during my 20 years in the show though. I passed my cycling proficiency test and have a 50th share in three BAFTAs, so that’s good!”
Kevin has since performed at Reading Festival and landed roles in West End hit shows including We Will Rock You in 2009 – having auditioned in front of Queen's Brian May.
He's now touring with Rock Of Ages, playing Dennies Dupree, and says “it’s the most fun musical” he’s ever been a part of.
Despite two decades having gone by since he was a Corrie regular, Kevin admits he still loves getting recognised for his lovable character.
He says: “I’ve never understood why actors try to poo-poo their previous work. I love being recognised as Curly. It’s really flattering.
“Children and old ladies loved him. He was an everyman and it was his job to make people think, 'My life's not great but at least I'm not him!'
“It's a compliment that he's remembered. I’ve had people recognise me as far away as New Zealand and even at the top of the Empire State Building. It’s mad.”
Children and old ladies loved Curly. He was an everyman and it was his job to make people think, 'My life's not great but at least I'm not him'
Kevin attributes his achievements to getting clean and sober – he and Clare now work as motivational speakers on alcoholism recovery – and still has lofty showbiz ambitions for the future.
He says: “Alcohol held me back, I couldn’t concentrate and made terrible decisions. Quitting alcohol gave me turbo energy.
“Now I’m 60 and still want to play the handsome leading man who jumps out of exploding cars and is chased by pretty women onscreen.
“It’s highly unlikely but my ambition still burns and instead of reaching for the bottle when things get tough, I have handy tools to survive.
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“The sense of accomplishment that I feel from performing is better than any drug or booze I’ve experienced in my life.”
Kevin Kennedy stars in Rock Of Ages, which runs until June 2023, in theatres across the UK.For more information and tour dates click here.
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