Fylde Corrie actress Lucy up for top award

The 21-year-old from Cleveleys plays teenager Bethany Platt in ITV’s Coronation Street - and is currently playing out a hard-hitting child sexual exploitation storyline.

The nomination comes only two years after her professional debut on screen.

A former Hodgson Academy and Blackpool Sixth Form College student, Lucy is represented by Scream Management, the casting agency branch of Blackpool-based Scream Theatre School.

Agent Jessica Bell said: “We are so incredibly proud of Lucy being nominated for best actress for the soap awards she has been working non stop and really deserves to be nominated, she is a talented actress.

“Lucy is sending out such an important message and raising awareness of the disturbing issue of child sexual abuse which is admirable.

“It has been so amazing to watch Lucy grow from strength to strength with the show.”

Since joining the Salford-based soap, Lucy’s been involved in a non-stop run of hard-hitting storylines.

Bethany made her return to Weatherfield as a feisty teenage tearaway having run away from Milan where she lived with mum Sarah Platt, played by Tina O’Brien.

But after getting mixed up with her mum’s hardman boyfriend Callum, who ended up being murdered by her uncle David’s wife Kylie, Bethany’s become increasingly vulnerable.

She has been the victim of school bullies, which leads her to develop low self esteem and saw her start taking diet pills.

Seeking affection, she recently fell for older man Nathan Curtis - but he’s been grooming her and has been setting up his friends to sleep with her against her wishes.

In recent episodes she’’s been raped by one of his friends, agreed to marry Nathan and has become isolated from her family and friends.

Scream agency boss Tracey Bell said the team knew she would be perfect for the role when Coronation Street approached them for potential actresses to play Bethany - after the actress originally cast was found to have lied about her age.

Prior to Coronation Street, Lucy had appeared as a dancer in pantomimes at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre with Barbara Jackson’s Theatre Arts Centre in Fleetwood.

Tracey added: “We have an excellent relationship with Barbara Jackson’s Theatre Arts Centre.

“It was very forward thinking of Miss Lorraine to have Scream Management Talent Agency join forces with the school. They are a fantastic theatre school with lots of talented children.”

The British Soap Awards will be broadcast live from Salford’s The Lowry theatre, a stone’s throw from the Coronation Street studios at Media City, on Saturday, June 3 on ITV.

Visit www.britishsoapawards.tv to vote for Lucy in the best soap actress category.