Coronation Street icon Julie Goodyear’s husband has revealed she is suffering from dementia.
The actress, 81, is famed for playing leopard-print loving Rovers Return landlady Bet Lynch in the ITV soap for over 25 years, starting in the role in 1966.
But who is the former Coronation Street star’s husband? Does Julie Goodyear have any children with Scott Brand?
Read on below for everything you need to know about Julie Goodyear’s husband.
Goodyear met her fourth husband – who is 26 years younger than her – back in 1996, when he delivered plaster to her house. Pictured: the couple are seen together in 2004
Superstar: Julie was a housemate on Celebrity Big Brother 10 in 2012 and came in seventh place alongside the likes of Julian Clary, MC Harvey, Martin Kemp and Coleen Nolan
Julie’s last TV appearance is thought to be on The Big Soap Quiz in 2018
Who is Julie Goodyear’s husband?
Scott Brand, 55, is Goodyear’s fourth husband and has not had a career in television or showbusiness, staying far further out of the limelight than his celebrity wife.
Goodyear met her fourth husband – who is 26 years younger than her – back in 1996, when he delivered plaster to her house.
When appearing on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories back in 2013, Goodyear revealed that Brand proposed to her every day for 11 years before she accepted.
She said: ‘I might renew his contract. He’s been the best of a bad bunch, he really has.’ Asked if she was happily married, she responded: ‘Very.’
Asking about her sexuality, the chat show host said: ‘You’ve had relationships with men and women.’ Miss Goodyear replied: ‘A relationship can be a friendship. A soul mate, whatever. You don’t have to have sex all the time.
‘There are many gay people, who work in the industry we work in. Have you no gay friends? What’s it like having sex with them?’
Before marrying Scott Brand, Julie Goodyear had three previous marriages, to Ray Sutcliffe, Tony Rudman and Richard Skrob.
Her 1973 marriage to Rudman saw the couple married for only a few hours before he ran off with the best man. The heartbreak left her so distraught she spent a month in a mental health clinic.
In 1979, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and given just one year to live. She was then married to airline executive Skrob between 1985 and 1987.
Honest: Julie appeared on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories back in 2013, where she revealed that Scott proposed to her every day for 11 years before she accepted him
What did Julie Goodyear’s husband announce recently?
Her beloved husband Scott Brand, 55, released a statement on Wednesday which said: ‘My darling wife and I have had to come to terms with this heart-breaking diagnosis.
‘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.’
The Coronation Street veteran, 81, who played no-nonsense Rovers Return landlady Bet Lynch, was notorious for her love of leopard-skin print outfits between 1966 to 2003.
She was given an MBE for services to entertainment in 1996. In 2012, she appeared on Celebrity Big Brother alongside the likes of Julian Clary, MC Harvey, Martin Kemp and Coleen Nolan and came in seventh place.
Does Julie Goodyear have any children?
The former Coronation Street star has one child, Gary, from her first marriage, to Rudman.
However, Goodyear and Brand do not have any children together, with her son Gary being the only child Goodyear has from four marriages.
Julie remains a patron of Willow Wood Hospice in Greater Manchester and has said that she wishes to highlight the wonderful work of the hospices who do so much to support patients and families with dementia.
They go way back! Barbara (right) and Julie, (centre), on Russell Harty’s chat show in 1977
Fellow ex-Corrie star Charlie Lawson paid tribute to Goodyear, calling her a ‘Queen in every sense of the word’.
In December 2020, Julie paid tribute to fellow soap actress, EastEnders star Dame Barbara Windsor, who died following her own battle with Alzheimer’s disease, aged 83.
She wrote on Facebook: ‘Last night was so devastating for everyone in the industry who was ever lucky enough to meet Barbara let alone work along side her.
‘She was a national treasure. That word is thrown around too casually nowadays. But with Barbara it was well and truly meant. Thoughts are with her family and friends.
‘From one former landlady to another I raise a glass to the one and only and truly irreplaceable Barbara Windsor.
‘The laughs your gave over the years and the stellar performance you executed week in week out in your pub in the East End of London lives on.’
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