Corrie’s Beth Nixson who plays paedophile teacher Megan
It’s taken Beth Nixson just a month to become Corrie’s most hated character playing paedophile PE teacher Megan, who she calls “the devil in disguise.”
Completely oblivious to the fact she is grooming his athlete son Will, (Lucas Hodgson-Wale), grateful for her coaching, Rovers Return landlord Ben Driscoll (Aaron McCusker) invites her to the family’s Christmas lunch.
To maintain her cover, as the doting teacher, she brings her ‘decoy’ boyfriend – fellow teacher Daniel Osborne (Rob Mallard) along as her plus one. But she is playing with fire, as her 15-year-old lover Will’s jealousy threatens to boil over.
Beth, 25, who joined the Corrie cast in November, says: “Poor Will. Megan is the devil in disguise and we are going to really see how evil she is.
READ MORE: Charming UK town with vibrant Christmas market where you might even bump into a celebrity
“She will stop at nothing and she will do anything she wants to stay on top. “Everything she does is for a reason and it’s to serve herself and nobody else. You find yourself wanting to shout at the telly at her, because she is so evil.”
Viewers will see tension mount, as the Driscolls tuck into their turkey dinners. “Megan is spinning so many plates and it’s a ticking time bomb,” says Beth. “She has met Daniel and she uses him as a cover. She ramps the relationship up by kissing Daniel in front of Will in the Rovers. She is a lone wolf and there will be plenty more twists and turns. She keeps on plotting and plotting.”
Beth and her soap bosses have been working with Barnardo’s on the grooming storyline. She hopes that it will help any viewers facing a similar situation to realise they aren’t alone. She explains: “I have done research on female paedophiles and it’s shocked me how prevalent grooming is. It’s completely wrong, but by working with Barnardo’s, we want people to know they aren’t alone. Even if it is just one person that maybe realises they are in a similar situation, we’ve done our job.”
Corrie has given Beth her first ever TV role and she is determined to give it her all – especially as she was ready to quit acting just weeks before landing the part. Grounded and likeable in real life – the total opposite of her soap character – she says: “This is my first TV job and it’s not been easy. I was really, really close to giving acting up. But getting this Corrie part was the universe saying ‘don’t give up, keep going’.”
Growing up in York with her mum, Karen, an NHS porter, and dad, Andy, a forklift truck driver, Beth, who has four siblings, says she lacked confidence growing up and wasn’t sure how to get into acting.
Underperforming in some subjects at school, she says: “I never found anything I was good at. I can’t do maths; I am ok at writing but I’ve got no passion for it and the only thing I loved was drama. Thankfully, my teacher, Toni Feetenby, persuaded me to take it at GCSE, but I was so scared to do so!”
Passing with flying colours, with her teacher’s support, she found a college and moved to Manchester, aged 18, to study drama at the Arden School of Theatre. “They really champion working class actors,” she says. “I had the best time and they were amazing. It was such a good way to get your foot in the door.”
After graduating from Arden, she found work in a McDonald’s advert and did some educational videos for Rochdale Council. A play in Lincoln followed, but Corrie gave her the big break she craved. “It’s been tough and a couple of years ago, I took a break for a year,” she explains. “I did a lot of waitressing and I would always be collecting plates. People kept saying to me ‘maybe one day you will be on Coronation Street’.”
When acting jobs were thin on the ground, she also worked as a social media manager, after which the auditions began to roll in. She says: “That’s when the role of Megan came up. It feels so surreal to be on the set of Corrie knowing what people used to say when I was waitressing. While it’s a difficult role, I do keep pinching myself. I’ve landed this job and I am so grateful to Corrie for trusting me with it.”
No one could be more proud of Beth’s success than her boyfriend, Ethan, a construction worker, who she has been dating for 18 months. When she told him, he even cried. “He did cry,” she confesses. “It has all been so amazing.”
Working with Pauline McLynn, Catherine Tyldesley and Lucas has been brilliant, according to Beth, who says they have welcomed her into the Corrie fold. “OMG it’s been so crazy, they are all such great actors and everyone has been so welcoming,” she says. “Initially, I hid in my dressing room as I was really nervous. But I knew I needed to socialise and I don’t know why I was scared. Everyone is so nice. I feel very blessed to be a part of Coronation Street.”
And her family were so proud they held a special watch party in the local pub in York for her debut episode. “My mum is a lifelong Corrie fan, as is my Nana,” she confides. “Corrie is such a big part of many people’s childhood. Many people have grown up watching it and my family have been so excited, even though the role is a very difficult one.”
While trouble will never be far away from Megan over Christmas, Beth will be having a much more harmonious celebration at home in York with her family. “I love Christmas and I definitely want to spoil my mum and little sister,” she promises. “I might book them a holiday. I will be going home back to York, which is such a lovely place at Christmas.”
And she might start a new festive tradition, by getting her family to “play Traitors” this year. She laughs: “We all love the Traitors so much and I would love to be a traitor, but I don’t know if I would be any good at that. I think I would go bright red and be like Alan Carr by laughing all the time. I think I would get caught out early.”
Turning back to Corrie, Beth remains tight-lipped on how long her storyline will run, but she hopes that other working class actors will be inspired to follow their dreams, after seeing her land a role in the soap. “Even though I was close, I am so glad I didn’t give up,” she confides.
“My advice to anyone is if you feel in your heart this is what you want to do, then it will happen. It doesn’t matter what your background is, you can get Government funding and the Arden School of Theatre, where I went, is fabulous. It sets you up with the tools.”
Finally, she hopes that Megan’s story will help anyone in Will’s situation seek help. She says: “My storyline is a very tough one and it needs to be handled with care, but it needs to resonate with people and hopefully it will do so. I am so thankful to have been given this part and I am learning so much being at Corrie.”
Coronation Street airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV1 or STV1. Episodes can be downloaded on ITVX.
