Coronation Street star Charlie Lawson has revealed a violent ex almost drove him to suicide after years of physical abuse.
Speaking to The Sun, the actor said he was a terrified victim while he was playing wife-beater Jim McDonald on screen.
The 65-year-old still has a scar from one attack and was depressed because of what I was going through and had been prescribed pills whilst with wife Lesley Bond.
Lesley, who was a make-up artist on Corrie, married Charlie in 1999 and died at the age of 55 in 2010.
Their wedding day at the Lucknam Park, Wilts, was marred by violence, the Northern Irish actor claimed.
Charlie Lawson (pictured) said he was a terrified victim while he was playing wife-beater Jim McDonald on screen
The 65-year-old married Lesley (pictured) , who was a make-up artist on Corrie, in 1999
He recalls: We met another couple who were getting married there at the same time.
Lesley later accused me of flirting with the bride and slapped me so hard that I nearly fell over.
A few weeks later at home she flew into a rage and attacked me with an empty bottle. I loved her to pieces but she was very, very ill, bless her.
Charlie met Lesley on set in early 1994, when he was 35, having been married to someone else for 12 years.
Their relationship led him to leaving his first wife Suzie, who he shared his daughter Laura with.
The first domestic abuse incident came when Lesley slapped Charlie after he was outside chatting innocently to a neighbour while putting the bins out because she was convinced he was having an affair.
The actor said that Lesley had been seriously addicted to the prescription drug Valium, which made her paranoid.
He also revealed that she punched him in the side of his neck whilst he was driving, causing him to nearly crash.
The visible scar on his body is from a scissor attack, he says, which led him to consider taking his own life.
Jim McDonald was an ex-squaddie who abused wife Liz (Beverley Callard)
His character also had two sons Steve and Andy, played by Simon Gregson and Nick Cochrane (pictured)
Charlie had played Jim on Coronation Street from 1989 to 2000 and has regularly returned for stints ever since. He was most recently seen on the show in 2018 (pictured)
He said: I knew life could not go on like this. Leaving her would break my heart but if I wasnt here everything would be solved. She could move on with her life and there would be no more pain.
Thankfully, Charlie rang his close friend Eva Pope - who had played barmaid Tanya Pooley in the soap.
Following their conversation, he packed his bag and left the house while Lesley slept after Eva told him to ‘Get your a**e over here right now’.
But Charlie did return to their house and was attacked again, leading him to push her to the floor.
Charlie had played Jim on Coronation Street from 1989 to 2000 and has regularly returned for stints ever since.
The character was an ex-squaddie who abused wife Liz (Beverley Callard) and their sons Steve and Andy, played by Simon Gregson and Nick Cochrane.
Charlie (pictured in June 2024) says a visible scar on his body is from a scissor attack, which led him to consider taking his own life
Charlie is currently married to his third wife Debbie (pictured)
Offset, Charlie was known to enjoy the night life of Manchester along with partner-in-crime Phil Middlemiss, who played bookmaker Des Barnes.
They were regularly seen at Manchester club La Gitane, where they would drink with Manchester United footballers and singer Lisa Stansfield.
Charlie admitted the pair would be there until breakfast time and head straight into Granada [Studios] for filming.
Charlie is currently married to his third wife Debbie, 60. They were together when he found out Lesley had died of hypothermia in her home in Oxford.
He was asked to identify Lesley’s body and was later given her ashes, which he says he scattered on her favourite beach up in the Highlands.
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