Coronation Street's James Cartwright praises soap for tackling conversion therapy storyline

Theo and Danielle have two teenage children, and when Theo discussed the strong Christian beliefs held by his family, he shared that decades earlier, his faith turned against him, subjecting him to the horrors of conversion therapy.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com at the British Soap Awards 2025, Cartwright discussed the importance of serial drama tackling the subject.

"The idea that Corrie even have a crack at that, I think is a really cool thing. I'm very proud and privileged and honoured to be on the Street, full stop.

"I didn't know conversion therapy [was] even a thing," he added. "I mean, my version of that was a sort of American. So, it's a real thing, and it's very bad.

"And you don't choose your sexuality in any way more than you choose your hair colour, your eye colour and your height, it's ridiculous."

Theo recently came face-to-face with a man called Noah (Richard Winsor), confiding in Todd that Noah was involved in his conversion therapy.

As Theo deals with family drama surrounding the end of his marriage, we'll just have to wait and see if Noah will come back to haunt him once more.

While Theo comes to terms with being out and proud as a gay man amid such dark memories, Cartwright himself is having a great time on set.

"There's a moment in every actor's life on Corrie where you sit in the Rovers, and they put a pint in front of you, and there's a beer mat there of Newton and Ridley," the actor shared.

"You pick it up and sip it, and you go, 'I'm on Coronation Street!' And it's just a wonderful, wonderful thing."

On playing Theo, he joked: "Who doesn't want to wear a vest and a high-vis at work and a hard hat? I mean, I look like a member of the Village People, and I get to snog Todd!"

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