Julie Goodyear's tragic past: From her nervous breakdown to being jilted on wedding day

Coronation Street icon Julie Goodyear, 81, has sadly received a "heartbreaking diagnosis" of dementia, her husband has said.

The actress, who is best known for playing Bet Lynch on the ITV soap, was responsible for one of the show’s longest-serving and best-loved characters.

Julie, who played the barmaid from 1966 to 2003, has also appeared on reality shows such as Celebrity Big Brother and Celebrity Fit Club.

Her husband Scott Brand shared the devastating news od his wife’s dementia diagnosis after she began “suffering forgetfulness”. 

In a statement, he revealed: “My darling wife and I have had to come to terms with this heartbreaking diagnosis.

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"Unfortunately, Julie has been suffering forgetfulness for some time and we have been seeking medical advice and assistance - but we now know that there is no hope of a reversal in the situation and that her condition will get progressively, and perhaps speedily, worse.

"We have taken the decision to publicly announce the diagnosis as Julie still loves visiting friends and eating out. 

“Inevitably, she is recognised and fans love to meet her - and she them - but she can get confused, particularly if she is tired. I hope people will understand."

While Julie’s sad diagnosis is the latest tragedy to touch the actress’ life, it is by no means the first. 

Express.co.uk looks back on Julie’s tough past, which at one point saw her suffer a nervous breakdown. 

In an exclusive interview with the Mirror back in 2006, Julie spoke about how she had to “delve deep” into her tragic past to write her autobiography titled Just Julie.

“My life has run the gamut of human emotions, with as many heartbreaks and sorrows as joys and happiness,” she said at the time. 

"I did find it very traumatic," she said of writing the book. "It brought back a lot of painful memories but I have kept my sense of humour.

"I feel that now is the right time to tell my story because my mother Alice was the same age I am now when she died of cancer in 1987."

Julie’s turbulent love life

The actress has herself admitted that her love life had always been “disastrous” until she met her fourth husband Scott Brand, with whom she went the distance.

Julie was just 17 when she became pregnant with her son Gary, and her husband Ray Sutcliffe left her soon after their shotgun wedding in 1960. 

"I was a single mum and that was something to be ashamed of then,” she revealed. 

She was then apparently jilted at her second wedding, with her marriage to second husband Tony Rudman being annulled after he walked out at the reception in 1973.

Julie’s third marriage to American Richard Skrob in 1985 also fell apart after he refused to live in the same country as her. 

The actress also had a same-sex relationship with her PA Janet Ross, whom she has previously talked about fondly on ITV’s Life Stories.

Crying as she spoke about the relationship, she recalled Janet’s devastating death from cancer in 2011.

“She and I became soulmates,” she said on the show. “I don’t know if you’ve ever found that? I hadn’t, before or since. When my mother came to the last three months of her life, Janet Ross was like a rock. You don’t often find mates like that. Incredible.

“Two years ago I received a phone call, from Janet and she said, ‘I need to talk to you, Julie.’ 

“I was there within an hour. And we were sitting in her back garden. She said, ‘You know I almost got the all-clear.’ I said, ‘Yes.’ She said, ‘Well, it’s back.’

“My soulmate, and it was her turn now? After everything that she’d done for me, with my mum, and in my life. We’re not talking sex, we’re talking good people, real people, kind people. And she died.”

Since then, Julie has found love with her fourth husband Scott, whom she met back in 1996. 

Scott, who is 26 years her junior, first met Julie when he delivered plaster to her house. 

Julie’s nervous breakdown

It was her second marriage to Tony Rudman in 1973 that served as the catalyst for Julie’s nervous breakdown. 

According to the Belfast Telegraph, the star returned to work right after her brand-new husband left and kept his departure a secret, but the stress of it all took its toll. 

Speaking about her character, she said: "A lot of the time I was so much happier being Bet. 

“It was easier because of the amount of pain that Julie was going through. It was a blessed relief to be able to put the slap on and turn into somebody else. Psychologically that helped me so much.

"But in my dressing room when I took Bet's beehive off and my make-up off at the end of a 12-hour day, hell would start kicking in."

Plagued by mental turmoil, Julie finally had a nervous breakdown and ended up in a mental institution for about a month.

Julie’s cancer battle

Despite being diagnosed with cervical cancer when she was 36, Julie spoke about smoking was the one habit she couldn’t kick in the same article for the Mirror. 

"Smoking is my only vice. When I was in hospital recovering from cancer, the first thing I did when I came off the morphine was have a cigarette!"

At the time in 1979, Julie was told by doctors she had just 12 months to live, but in the end she was able to fight the illness.

"Being told I had a year to live changed my outlook on life and it makes me appreciate it more. Now, I love going to health farms, I swim and I try to eat sensibly,” she said at the time.