Soap icon Claire King has talked candidly about her feelings on euthanasia in a recent interview, controversially saying that she ‘would consider it myself.’
Claire, 54, has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, after years of caring for her own disabled parents.
She takes on the role alongside her brother Piers. Claire and Piers’ dad John has multiple sclerosis, while their mother Angela has had severe back problems and rheumatoid arthritis since she was young.
Speaking to Mirror Online ahead of Carers Week, Claire says that carers have been let down by the government and need more money and support. Hell yes to that, Claire.
She said: “I do worry about when I’m older and becoming a burden on people around me.
“I can understand why people choose assisted dying – and it’s getting to the point where I would consider it myself.”
Claire – who recently announced that she was leaving her role as Erica Holroyd in Corrie – says the decision would be made easier by the fact that she doesn’t have any children.
“Most of my family will be gone,” she adds. “It’s not a selfish thing. It’s a decision at a certain age, when you’re becoming a burden to others.”
But she does say that not having kids – when her and her brother help their own parents so much – plays on her mind.
“I worry about not having children,” she says. “I see how my brother and I try to help out our parents – I haven’t got that.”
It was in the nineties when she was playing soap super bitch/ the soap star everyone’s dad fancied Kim Tate, that Claire developed rheumatoid arthritis, the same illness as mum.
She has had joints removed and plates put in her fingers.
Addressing an emotive, topical conversation, in the interview Claire also added her voice to people who have concerns about the money available to people in later life.
“I have to keep on to pay the bills and try and stash some for when I can’t work any more,” she says.
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“The Government only pays so much for caring time, so Piers and I help out financially.
“I can see how difficult it is for people with no money. You don’t have much help from the government.
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“It really gets me. These are people who’ve paid their dues, paid their taxes, and it riles me that you don’t get the help later on in life that you should.”
Kim Tate for parliament? Weirder things have happened in politics this week, guys.