I’ve been screwed over by Coronation Street star… I lent him money to fix his teeth but now he’s REFUSING to pay me back
CORONATION Street star Sean Cernow is refusing to pay back his school friend £250 for fixing his dodgy teeth.
The actor, 47, who plays Tony Byrne on the cobbles, has known Allan Kato, 48, since the pair met at drama school in Oldham around 30 years ago.
Cernow allegedly had a problem with his teeth earlier this year caused by a dental abscess which led to two dropping out.
English teacher Allan claimed that his pal Cernow was struggling to get acting work and asked him for financial aid in August.
But things quickly turned ugly when Cernow refused to pay the debt back to Allan, originally from Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Allan, who now lives in Vietnam, told The Sun: “I’m £250 lighter in my wallet than I should be. I’ve known Sean for 30 years.
“We’ve always been good mates. I never lend anyone money usually. Not a massive amount like that. I just felt sorry for him.
“I thought I’d help out a mate. Be a good person. He said he couldn’t get any work because he had a problem with his teeth.
“Two of his teeth fell out and he didn’t look very presentable. He sent me a receipt for his dental work.
“After I lent him the money, he turned on me almost immediately.
“He started getting aggressive when I asked him when he was going to pay me back.
“He told me to stop pressuring him and played the victim. He blocked me on all social media accounts after that.”
Allan has a wife and an eight-year-old stepdaughter and said he “doesn’t make a lot of money”.
He continued: “I’m not rich. I can’t be losing £250 to a so-called friend.”
Cernow joined residents of Weatherfield last year as Ed Bailey’s employee Tony.
During the show’s storyline, handyman Tony cornered Ed for cash telling him he wants “the money by today – or else”.
What to do if someone owes you money
ACCORDING to the Government website, there are a few ways you can get money back that you're owed.
The options include using a mediation service, going to court, sending a statutory demand or making someone bankrupt if a person or business is in debt.
Gov.uk says:
Mediation
Mediation is when an impartial professional (the mediator) helps both sides work out an agreement. It’s confidential and usually quicker and cheaper than going to court.
You can get mediation from an independent mediator instead of making a court claim for money.
If you make a court claim for your money, you might be offered or told you have to attend mediation if your claim is for £10,000 or less. This service is free.
Court action
You can make a court claim for your money if mediation does not work.
The court can order the money to be paid.
Make an official demand for money you’re owed
You can use a statutory demand to ask for money you’re owed from a person or business.
If they ignore the statutory demand or cannot repay the money, you can apply to a court to:
- make someone bankrupt – if you’re owed £5000 or more by an individual, including a sole trader or a member of a partnership
- get a company wound up (liquidated) – if you and any other creditors are owed £750 or more
However, the costs are high and you may not get any of your money back. Get legal advice before doing this if you’re unsure.
Get money you’re owed from a bankrupt person or a company that’s being liquidated
You must register your claim to money from a bankrupt person or a company so that if there’s any money available to pay debts, you can get a share.
Get money you’re owed by someone in another country
Get legal advice if you need to recover debt from a person or a business in another country.
Allan added: “The irony is that the character he plays was getting annoyed for someone owing him some money in the show.
“He was fighting him and getting aggressive. It’s like art imitating life.”
And it wasn’t Sean’s first time acting in the ITV soap.
The Manchester born actor played an unnamed drug dealer in 2008 and ten years later he returned to play villain Phil Warriner.
He has also been in a number of blockbuster TV series, including House of the Dragon on HBO and The Witcher on Netflix.
When approached by The Sun, Cernow slammed the door in our reporter’s face.
Corrie's most famous villains
- Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) – arguably the most famous villain in soap history. The character has multiple killings to his name. Richard left his former business partner Duggie Ferguson (John Bowe) to die before he murdered his ex-wife Patricia (Annabelle Apsion) who threatened to expose his dodgy dealings. He attempted to kill his mother-in-law Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) by setting her house on fire. He later killed her co-worker Maxine Peacock (Tracy Shaw) after she caught him in the act of attempting to strike Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) with a crowbar. Eventually he confessed his crimes to Gail (Helen Worth) before driving the Platt family into the canal. They all survived, but Richard drowned.
- Mad Maya (Sasha Behar) – She may not have the most kills to her name, but no true Corrie fan will be able to forget ‘Mad Maya’s’ stint. Maya Sharma first started out as an innocent lawyer. However her true nature was revealed when she kidnapped Tyronne’s () dog and threatened to kill Dev Alahan () unless he proposed. Things soon turn nasty when Sunita () received the news that she has a brain tumour. The pair rekindle their romance and they end up getting married. However, Maya ruined their big day by reporting Sunita to the police for bigamy. Not done there, she plans to kill them both as she sets fire to all of Dev’s shop empire and trapping them both upstairs after she set fire to the corner shop with the gas and stove on. When they are miraculously rescued, she attempts to run them over.
- Pat Pheelan (Connor McIntyre) – Pat was introduced as an acquaintance of Owen Armstrong (Ian Puleston-Davies), before embarking on a revenge plot. He creates a fraudulent property scheme which caused the death of Michael Rodwell (Les Dennis). He kidnapped Andy Carver (Oliver Farnworth) and Vinny Ashford (Ian Kelsey). This was before he framed his arch-nemesis Anna Windass for GBH after he pushed Seb Franklin (Harry Visinoni) off a ladder. He then murdered both Any as well as Luke Britton (Dean Fagan). He eventually met a gruesome end when he held most of the residents of the street hostage in the Bistro. He was stabbed by Anna Windass after he shot Michelle (Kym Marsh).
- Geoff Metcalfe (Ian Bartholomew) – Geoff started off as the innocent father to Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) and he was a local Weatherfield celebrity owing to his radio show and his ‘The Great Magnifico’ magic act. He later embarked on a romantic relationship and married with Yasmeen (Shelley King). However, he had a nasty streak as he controlled her in every way. He made sure she was reliant on him for everything including financially, he constantly bullied and belittled her, locked her in the magician’s box despite the fact she was claustrophobic, and he even forced her to eat her own pet chicken. Later she snapped and stabbed him in the neck. This was before she was arrested for attempted murder. However, his nearest and dearest soon discovered his true nature and they turned against him. He tried to sabotage the trial by threatening his ex-wife, but she stood up to him in an epic court showdown. After Yasmeen was released, Geoff died shortly after when he set fire to their home and fell off the roof.
- Kirsty Soames (Natalie Gumede) – Kirsty was first seen on Corrie on a night out when Tommy Duckworth (Chris Fountain) paid her to flirt with Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall). Later she makes her interest very clear and they end up together. After she gets sacked from her job as a policewoman, Tyrone gets her a job at Underworld factory as a packer. She is utterly horrified and she lashed out at Tyrone with a ladle. Kirsty apologised and Tyrone pretended to all his friends the injuries were accidental. However, this pattern continued. Over several incidents she forced him up against a door, smashed household plates and pictures, bruised him after beating him with a vacuum cleaner, throws a candlestick at his head and she locks him inside the house. However, one time she tried to hit him but she lost her balance and fell down the stairs. She lies to the police and tells them that it was Tyrone who was beating her. Tyrone was put in prison after he broke bail conditions when he went on the run with his daughter. During the period of the trial, she struggles to look after baby Ruby. She throws a cup at Julie (Katy Cavanagh) before exposing her own behaviour by slapping her. Kirst then stormed into the courtroom and confessed that she was the monster, not Tyrone.