'I stayed out all night with Katie Price taking drugs - then filmed Corrie the next day'

Charlie Lawson has openly recounted his wild times with Katie Price, confessing to partaking in "anything that we had got our hands on".

The Coronation Street legend has spoken out about his rowdy past while playing the hardman Jim McDonald on the soap. In his autobiography That's Life, So It Is, he details his excessive drinking, knocking back more than a bottle of whiskey every night and dabbling in drugs such as cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, LSD, speed, and cannabis.

On his relationship with Katie Price, he remarks: "I had always got on well with her, although we had more often than not been three sheets to the wind, at 3am, under the influence of anything that we had got our hands on!

"I have always had a soft spot for Pricey. I've always felt that she has been let down by friends and boyfriends alike."

Now at 65, Charlie looks back on being introduced to "most drugs", with a preference for cocaine and speed because he "wanted to be bouncing off the walls". Reflecting on his early acting career, he says: "Drugs were everywhere," as reported by the Mirror.

"Every weekend I'd travel back to London on the last fast service to Euston and end up in some odd place, partying all night long with bags of speed and whatever else we could get our hands on. There was a huge amount of cocaine around and it's clear that everyone, myself included, was indulging."

He describes his first encounter with LSD as "a particularly brilliant adventure", but a distressing event ensued when he fell ill after "chasing the dragon", ultimately leading him to vow never to do it again. Charlie regales with tales of his wilder days alongside fellow 'Corrie' actor Phil Middlemiss, reports Plymouth Live.

In his autobiography, he pens: "The cardinal rule was never to be late. Especially if you were party animals like Philip and myself. I was constantly out all night on the lash. Life was a complete joy, as long as I could carry on without a care in the world. Cocaine was everywhere and we took full advantage of its availability."

He later concedes: "My drinking had become very heavy. I never drank during the day but at night I was drinking over a bottle of whiskey. If there was anything else around I would buy it."

Northern Irish Charlie, famed for his role as Big Jim on 'Corrie', appearing in over 1,000 episodes during the 1990s after joining the show in 1989, has a storied personal life.

Now married to Debbie Stanley, the thrice-wed actor revealed in October how the physical abuse from his late second wife Leslie Bond drove him close to suicide. He's also voiced regret over choosing his hedonistic lifestyle over quality time with his daughter Laura, now aged 36.

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