Manchester Village Pride Parade took place on Saturday
Vicky Myers, Catherine Tyldesley, Lucy Fallon, and Julia Goulding from Coronation Street at the Manchester Village Pride parade(Image: Carl Sukonik | The Vain photographer)
Stars from ITV joined the Manchester Village Pride celebrations in the city centre today as they took part in the annual parade.
ITV had been one of the eagerly-anticipated floats of the parade for a number of years, often bringing the Rovers Return on tour for fans attending the event. But ITV had not ‘formally’ taken part in the event since 2024 due to cuts at the station.
Marking a return to the event this year due to the new-look format of the festival, ITV had teased fans that it would feature a number of stars from their shows – namely cast members from Emmerdale and Coronation Street.
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Amongst the famous faces were Corrie stars Sue Devaney, who is known for the role of Debbie Webster, and Antony Cotton, who has played the role of Sean Tulley in the soap since 2003. He is also known for his appearance on Queer As Folk.
Catherine Tyldesley, who appeared in the soap from 2011 to 2018 as Eva Price before returning again last year, also took part in the float, alongside Jodie Prenger, who has appeared in the soap since 2022 as Glenda Shuttleworth.
Coronation Street star Sue Devaney took part in the ITV Pride float during the parade(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Eveni)
The news of ITV Pride’s involvement was announced earlier this year, with advertisements of Manchester Village Pride also featured on banners in Weatherfield. At the time, Sophie Scott, Co-Chair of ITV Pride, said: “We’ve watched Manchester Village Pride return to its community-led, grassroots spirit, and with this year’s theme, No Place Like Home, it perfectly complements ITV’s own tagline, No Place Like ITV.
“As a broadcaster rooted in telling authentic stories, and with our own deep connection to the North West, that theme felt like the perfect alignment. We’re over the moon to be joining in again this year.”
Stars from Coronation Street appeared on the ITV Pride float
Carl Austin-Behan, co-director and spokesperson for Manchester Village Pride, said: “The support from organisations like ITV Pride demonstrates the growing momentum behind Manchester Village Pride and our shared commitment to celebrating, supporting and championing our LGBTQ+ communities in the heart of Manchester’s Gay Village and across the city.
“This year’s theme, No Place Like Home, is about recognising the Village as the historic home of Pride in Manchester, while making clear that Pride belongs to everyone. Seeing community groups, charities, businesses and organisations come together for the parade is exactly what Manchester Village Pride is all about.”
Also taking part in today’s parade were big brands like Tesco, Lidl and Co-Op, as well as local LGBTQ+ groups and organisations including Manchester FrontRunners, LGBT Foundation, George House Trust, and Rainbow Noir.
Vicky Myers, Catherine Tyldesley, Lucy Fallon, and Julia Goulding from Coronation Street at the Manchester Village Pride parade(Image: Carl Sukonik | The Vain photographer)
Manchester Village Pride is continuing throughout the weekend with performances upcoming from Kate Nash, Gareth Gates, Cascada, DJ Sammy, and Moss Side 90s girl group Cleopatra, who previously told the M.E.N, they had something fun with plenty of surprises in store for their performance later today.
Lead singer Cleo said: “The songs we released were always about uplifting and inspiring people, so being able to play events like Pride is always a great opportunity to just bring the fun. Manchester gave us so much love on the way up and they still support us now. So I think they deserve to have a party with us.
“There’s going to be lots of surprises, and it’s just going to be a great time for everyone. We’re honestly so excited!”