Corrie legend Charlie Lawson has confessed he was nearly driven to suicide by his ex-wife.
The actor, best known to audiences as Jim McDonald on the ITV soap, often riled up viewers with his domestic abuse storylines, including his wife-beating ways with former partner Liz, played by Beverley Callard. But Charlie himself was apparently facing his own domestic abuse demons.
Now aged 65, Charlie says years of torment at the hands of his abusive ex-wife left him with scars and bruises. One particularly harrowing scissor attack has been borne onto his skin as a frightening scar.
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Charlie admitted that the physical abuse became so bad that he considered taking his own life. He told The Sun: "I was depressed because of what I was going through and I had been prescribed pills.
"All I could think about was finding peace - and I meant it. I would kill myself, end it all. I was in a very scary place."
His partner had been Corrie make-up artist Lesley Bond, whom Charlie had fallen love with during the 1990s. The couple tied the knot in 1999 and had been legally still together until she passed away in 2010.
Soon after getting together, Charlie alleges Lesley would berate him and hit him if she felt he was doing something wrong. Even their wedding day at the luxurious Lucknam Park in Wiltshire could not escape her violent tendencies.
Ahead of the release of his autobiography, That's Life So It Is, Charlie said that Lesley accused him of flirting with another woman who had been set to marry at the same venue. He recalled how she had "slapped him so hard that he nearly fell over".
Discussing an alleged attack with a bottle, the actor said: "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 said that after a while, he had discovered she was "seriously addicted" to prescription painkillers such as Valium. "They made her paranoid, she always thought I was cheating," he added.
Now happily married to his third Debbie Stanley, actor Charlie said that it was fellow Corrie star Eva Pope - who had played Tanya Pooley in the soap - who helped him out. On the night he was due to take his life, he went on to call Eva and tell her how he had been feeling.
An irate Eva demanded that Charlie pack his things and "get his a**e over here right now". He added that he packed his bags in secret while his partner Lesley was asleep.
He finished: "Eva saved me that night. She held me in her arms and listened to me, she told me I had to get out before something goes badly wrong."
While Charlie did temporarily go back to Lesley, another bout of violence saw him turn on her and push her to the floor. It was then Charlie realised he needed to get out of the relationship for good, adding: "I thought, ‘If I lose my temper here then there’s only going to be one winner’."
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