Catherine Tyldesley has revealed that when she’s away filming, especially on projects abroad like The Good Ship Murder, she can go two or three days without talking to her children. The 41-year-old actress, known for Coronation Street, shares her son Alfie, 10, and daughter Iris, three, with her husband Tom Pitfield. She explained on the Behind The Brood podcast that her fast-paced career sometimes makes it hard to stay in regular contact with her kids.
The drama was shot on a luxury cruise ship in Malta, while Tom stayed at home caring for the children. Catherine said that when she’s working, she feels like a different person and not quite herself.
The actress explained that during her time filming in Malta—totalling about a year and a half—she stays very focused on work and feels like a different person while on set. But when she returns to her hotel in the evenings, the silence hits her hard because she misses the bedtime routines, like reading to her daughter Iris or talking to her son Alfie about his day. Although they use Zoom to stay connected, it’s not the same as being together.
Tom added that sometimes they go two or three days without Zoom calls, which might seem strange to others, but it happens because, for example, Iris might be too busy playing to talk. Catherine also mentioned that filming on the cruise ship is tough due to unreliable WiFi and constantly changing time zones, making communication even harder.
Catherine Tyldesley shared how much she misses her children when she’s away filming, saying that when people on set ask if she’s okay, she tells them she just wants to “sniff” her kids. She described the physical ache of missing them, saying her arms feel funny because she just wants to squeeze and smell their “sweaty little heads.”
Her husband Tom responded with humor, joking that some days he just wants to “launch them out of the window,” highlighting the everyday challenges of parenting. Catherine, who starred as Eva Price on Coronation Street from 2011 to 2018, had her son Alfie in 2015, married Tom in 2016, and welcomed their daughter Iris in April 2022.