CORRIE fans are shocked to discover that Izzy Armstrong’s real-life hubby is a famous soap star himself – and he’s even appeared alongside her on the cobbles.
The long-running Weatherfield favourite Izzy Armstrong (played by Cherylee Houston) has been part of the cobbles since 2010.
Izzy’s life on the street has been anything but dull – from high drama at the Underworld factory to some of the most intense storylines on the cobbles.
In 2016, she faced a difficult battle with chronic pain, leading her down a controversial path that saw her turn to cannabis.
Her struggles resulted in a two-month stint behind bars, leaving viewers shocked.
But it wasn’t all hardship for Izzy – her romance with Gary Windass (Mikey North) also captured fans’ hearts, particularly when they became parents to son Jake via surrogacy.
But viewers are only now putting two and two together about her real-life romance.
And it turns out her husband is no stranger to the world of soaps himself.
Cherylee is married to Toby Hadoke.
He has appeared in Emmerdale, Shameless, Hollyoaks and Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights.
In 2021, he made a cameo on Corrie as Fergus, Izzy’s fiercely protective neighbour during the pandemic.
But Toby’s Corrie connections don’t end there.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Corrie signs three new hunks with Hollywood star, Archers actor and huge recast” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6369835230112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]He once starred as a vicar at Curly Watts‘ wedding – a role he humorously describes as “about 747 years ago”.
When he’s not acting, Toby runs his own comedy club in Manchester, XS Malarkey.
And he’s full of praise for his wife, calling her “a brilliant actor” and applauding her efforts to raise awareness about disability representation in the industry.
Fans were gobsmacked when they realised just who Toby was.
Taking to Facebook, one fan wrote: “I remember him from Corrie I think, didn’t know at the time they were together.”
Another added: “How come I recognise him?!”
A third penned: “Toby Hafoka! He’s an actor/writer/standup comedian.”
The Coronation Street star has previously spoken out about the harrowing abuse she has suffered from ignorant people for simply being disabled.
Cherylee posted about how she felt when she heard a slur shouted by a person in a passing car while out and about in Manchester, where the ITV soap is filmed.
She called them out on X – formerly Twitter – commenting that attitudes towards disabled people had gone backwards in recent years.
She wrote: “Just had some delightful ableism shouted at me out of a car window ‘Coronation Street Cabbage’.
“Have we gone back 20 years, they were young men. This isn’t for sympathy. This is for awareness of how prevalent disability hate is.”
Viewers supported her, with one saying: “It feels like as a society we make a few steps forward and then take many steps back. How disappointing.”
Another said: “Everything has gone backwards it seems, racism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia. People have become brazen. Sorry you experienced this. Awful.”
Another added: “The respect for disabled people feels very thin on the ground right now. I’m sorry they chose to abuse you.
“Thank you for speaking out and I hope you are ok.
“But I honestly think Corrie writers could do worse than writing that into a line for you as an epic comeback.”
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 or stream from 7am on ITVX.
