Coronation Street legend Julie Goodyear, 82, seen in rare picture after it was revealed she is suffering dementia
Coronation Street legend Julie Goodyear has been spotted in a rare public outing after revealing her battle with dementia. The soap star left fans stunned last year when her husband Scott Brand announced that she had been diagnosed with the condition.
Since then, sightings of the Bet Lynch actress have been few and far between, with her last public appearance dating back to October 2023. However, the former Corrie star recently stepped out for a lunch date with her hubby.
Sharing a snap of a beaming Julie on social media, Scott captioned the heartwarming photo: "My Julie at her best today."
The new photo of 82 year old Julie comes after a close friend provided an update on her health. Mark Llewellin - who was her late co-star Roy Barraclough's partner - recently shared an update on her health, saying she is "quite happy" and he visits her once or twice a week.
Mark opened up about his close friend on the Conversation Street podcast, saying: "Julie is living a good life, really. She still loves leopard print, I'm pleased to say. I see her at least once a week, sometimes twice a week, and spend a few hours with her and have afternoon tea at her house, which I call leopard print boulevard."
He went on to say she's "happy" and leaves the house regularly, despite her health woes. Mark added: "I take her chocolate cake on a Sunday and we tuck into that, well she doesn't let me have any, to be honest.
"She's good, obviously, she has dementia as everybody knows, but it's wrong to say you suffer from dementia, you live with dementia. It changes what you can do and how you look at life, I think Julie has been very brave and strong about that."
Julie had struggled with a number of symptoms over the years prior to her diagnosis. Her husband Scott publicly shared Julie's dementia diagnosis last year, saying it would get "progressively, and perhaps speedily, worse".
Scott spoke about his wife's deterioration earlier this year. He heartbreakingly told how he misses his "fun-loving wife" and branded it "extremely painful" to see her deteriorating.
"Julie has always been extremely glamorous, going nowhere without her makeup,” he sadly explained. “But now the lipsticks and make-up go unworn, and clothes are no longer of interest, especially the leopard print.”
He went on: “I miss the fun-loving wife that Julie had always been – the larger-than-life personality that brightened up everywhere she went, and the smile that lit up every room. All of this is now slowly fading away and it’s extremely painful for me to watch this deterioration.”
She joined Coronation Street in 1966 and remained in the role of Bet until 2003. She was awarded an MBE for her services to drama in 1996.
