Coronation Street Star Cherylee Houston Collects MBE At Buckingham Palace
Coronation Street star Cherylee Houston has received an MBE at Buckingham Palace for her services to drama and to people with disabilities.
She received her title at the Palace from Anne, Princess Royal. It was announced that she would be receiving this honour back on New Year’s Eve 2021, when the New Year Honours List was released.
The actor has been part of Coronation Street for 12 years and was the first actor to use a wheelchair among the cast of the ITV soap.
Talking about how important it is to see disabled people represented on screen, she said: “If you think when you were growing up who your role models were, who influenced you, if you as a disabled child don’t have that, how do you know what you can do?”
She also spoke about how the looming cost of living crisis would affect disabled people, and she believes that more on screen representation can cause viewers to be more empathetic.
“That’s why I firmly believe the more we’re on our screens, the more we’re going to be understood, the more people care and empathise and will ensure that we will have equal rights and equal opportunity, because it’s about equality,” she said, adding, “It would be nice if the world was a bit more physically accessible.”
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