Coronation Street's Sean Wilson 'compared to Jimmy Saville' by vile trolls after unfounded sex claim

Sean Wilson, who featured in Coronation Street for 21 years, says he was likened to sex offenders Huw Edwards and Jimmy Savile after an unfounded claim was made against him

Coronation Street star Sean Wilson says sick trolls compared him to Jimmy Savile and Huw Edwards after an unfounded historical sex claim was made against him.

The 59-year-old actor, who is best known for playing Martin Platt in the soap from 1985 to 2005 before briefly returning in 2018, was due to return to the cobbles and was filming scenes earlier this year. But those returns were ruined when an unfounded historical sex complaint emerged alleged to have happened in 1997.

He recently learned that police would take no further action but the father-of-two has revealed social media users likened him to infamous sex offenders - leaving him worried about going out in public.

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Speaking to the Sun he said he found several social media users had made videos on how they needed to take the law into their own hands — putting his life at risk — and comparing him to sex offenders Jimmy Savile and Huw Edwards.

He said: “I’ve had to watch when we go out, that I don’t stand in the middle of a room, because someone can come at me from behind, some vigilante who just wants to take it out on me, for whatever reason.

“I’ve feared for my safety. It gets very, very, very dangerous. Paranoia would also set in. It only takes one person, you know, that sees these things going out, that the trolls are putting out, to say, I can sort this out. To them, I am a Jimmy Savile or a Huw Edwards. Something could have happened at any moment.”

The TV actor was axed in the summer after filming scenes with Helen Worth and took to Twitter /X to share a heartfelt message about the exit. The post, which was shared in September, read: "Thanks for all the love xxx", which was accompanied by a large light display that read "LOVE".

Sean said the unfounded allegation cost him his Corrie contract and that he also paid thousands on lawyers. He revealed that his "whole world was blown apart" because of the sex claim.

The actor said he was "relieved beyond belief" when, on November 21 police, said there would be no further action. “When I got that call that was the first time I cried in four months. I just let out all the pent-up emotions," he said.

The actor said he had not yet been able to tell his son Callum, 26, and daughter Maisie, 24, about what happened but was planning to explain. He said: “How do you tell your children that you’ve been wrongly accused of this? But they’ll have to be okay about it won’t they? Because their dad’s innocent.”

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