Gay TV star Charlie Condou: I worked as a waiter to look after my kids

Gay British actor Charlie Condou has talked about how he’s raising his two children with his husband Cameron Laux.

And he has said he wasn’t ashamed to have to work as a waiter when acting work dried up.

It was what he needed to do to look after his family, including Georgia, aged 10, and Hal, seven.

Speaking today on UK morning TV show, Lorraine, Condou also said he left Coronation Street to spend more time with his family.

‘I wasn’t getting to see my family’

The 47-year-old played Marcus Dent in the Manchester-based soap opera from 2007 to 2008 and 2011 to 2014.

But meanwhile his family was living in north London and the distance was making family life tough.

Condou told host Lorraine Kelly: ‘My time on Corrie was fantastic. But being in Manchester was really difficult. My family and my kids are down here and I wasn’t getting to see them. That’s why I left.’

He added that the children, who were born via IVF, still see their mother regularly. Mom Catherine Kanter, one of Condou’s friends, lives nearby and helps to raise them.

He explained: ‘There were no gay people having kids when I was growing up. It’s changed now.

‘Younger generations of gay men and women and the transgender community are becoming parents and I think it’s fantastic.’

Moreover, down-to-earth Condou talked about getting acting work after Coronation Street.

The soap saw him play an important part in LGBT+ media visibility. As midwife Marcus Dent his character had on-screen relationships with Sean Tully (Antony Cotton), Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon) and Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley).

Condou told Lorraine: ‘I came out of Corrie and I had some great work and great jobs. And then I had some periods when I didn’t, like all actors do.

‘My friend said “come work with me in a restaurant” and I did. Not for long, just for a few weeks.

‘I had kids, I had a mortgage. I think people think being an actor is better than being a waiter, which is ridiculous.’

Most recently, Charlie Condou has been in medical soap Holby City as surgeon Ben Sherwood.