Brooke Vincent has opened up about the agony she faced deciding whether or not to return to work after welcoming two sons.
The 31-year-old actress became a household name after playing Sophie Webster for an impressive 15 years on Coronation Street. She played the part from 2004 until 2019 - and walked away from the cobbles in order to welcome her first son, Mexx, with boyfriend Kean Bryan.
Brooke and Kean then welcomed a second son, who they named Monroe, in May 2021 - and the star says she then felt divided over the choice to return back to work. The young mum said she was torn over leaving her two young boys at home and growing to regret not embracing new work and challenges to balance alongside motherhood.
The star says she ultimately decided she couldn’t grow old wondering ‘what if’ and that this influenced her choice to get back to work. And she also acknowledged that having a family unit nearby has helped make her dream of being a working mum a reality.
Opening up to Fabulous, Brooke said: “When it comes to your career, it’s hard to know what to do for the best. Do you want to be the stay-at-home mum? And would that mean that you’d always wonder about what you could have done?
“That’s kind of where I am and what I’m trying to figure out. This is a new stage and I don’t know if I’m doing a very good job of working it out, but I’m giving it a good old go.” Despite both boys being under the age of five, she says they both have the financial acumen to understand her need to back in front of the cameras.
She said: “The boys understand that we go to work to get pennies so that we can do nice things as a family and that they can have their football and karate lessons and we can go on holidays. And I will shout to the high heavens about how good my partner is with our boys, because that has been a big thing for me coming back to work."
She admitted: "If I didn’t have that support at home, I’d never have been able to do something as demanding as this.”
Brooke has previously discussed her decision to walk away from the cobbles of Corrie - explaining she had to take time out of the long hours that the show demands to welcome and raise her children. She said in a past interview: “The hard thing about Corrie was that the hours aren’t a normal nine-to-five, or you couldn’t go part-time, or you couldn’t start after 10am. I didn’t want that to affect my time with my first baby. I thought while I was able to step away, I did, and I felt that was the best decision for me and my family at the time.”
She also said: “Corrie for me will always be home, but Corrie’s ongoing – it’s forever there. They don’t have an end date. So, for me, smaller projects will be doable because they have a start and an end date.”
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