Coronation Street star Antony Cotton attacks anti-gay protesters at Manchester Pride

Antony Cotton confronts homophobic protesters

by Emily Thorpe |
Updated on

The actor was seen marching up to protesters waving homophobic flags after jumping from Pride float

Coronation Street favourite Antony Cotton was seen confronting a group of homophobic protesters at Manchester Pride.

The actor, who plays Sean Tully, was cheered by crowds as he jumped off the ITV float, waving a rainbow flag at protesters who carried signs reading bible verses such as, “Abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”

Sean Tully Coronation Street
©ITV

The footage shows Antony wearing a t-shirt that reads "some people are gay, get over it" while hitting the protester’s signs with his flag. The actor then went on to tell the protesters to “shut up” before jumping back onto the float.

Antony was joined at Manchester Pride by his Coronation Street co-stars including Charlie Di Melo, who plays Imran Habeeb, and Sally Metcalfe actress, Sally Dynevor.

Check out: Coronation Street spoilers: Fiz Brown's return is Hopeless

Gallery

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Later on at the Bistro, Robert feels he has no choice but to tells Michelle that the ring was stolen from his van, but as Craig comes to take a statement, Michelle wonders why the van (and Robert) were in Macclesfield.

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Later that afternoon, Jed arrives at the Bistro with the stolen ring and makes it clear he's willing to tell Michelle everything unless Robert plays his game.

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Jed blackmails Robert and demands £5k, but Robert insists he only has £2k. Jed accepts the cash and gives Robert back his ring – on the condition that Robert convinces Tyler to move to Belfast.

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Later on when Michelle comes back to Bistro, Robert says that the ring turned up – but when Michelle demands to know where the £2k from the safe has gone, Robert has to backtrack and say he spent the money replacing the ring. Phew!

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Robert things he's got away with his lies (for now). But soon Jed overhears him going back on his end of the bargain, telling Tyler that he hopes he'll stay around to help look after the new baby.

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Fay Brookes Manchester Pride
©Instagram

Also in attendance was Faye Brookes who recently called off her engagement to singer Gareth Gates after the pair split earlier this month.

After remaining silent on the matter, the actress who plays Kate Connor,broke her silence, writing on Twitter:“ It’s been a really weird week. I’ve been throwing myself into the gym pretty much everyday, anyone who knows me knows how much I love training and keeping fit! It’s great for your physical and mental health. I’m a member of several gyms in Manchester including the fab Barry’s Bootcamp.

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“So (yesterday) there was a pap outside the gym when I got there, taking pictures of me & getting very excited with his camera because I walked in with one of the trainers from the gym – who is a friend.”

“Just let a girl be, please.” [sic]

It’s been reported that Faye called off the engagement due to red flags about Gareth’s behavior, something denied by Team Gates, and that the former Pop Idol star asked for the ring back.

Gareth’s reps preferred not to comment

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