First Dates couple hope to break intimate taboo after Corrie inspiration
A couple who married after meeting on First Dates have been inspired by a Corrie storyline to open up about living with motor neurone disease.
Mike Sumner – who has MND – and his wife Zoe Welch are starring in a TV advert campaign that they hope will break the taboo around disabled people being intimate. Their mission is inspired by the loving relationship between Coronation Street characters Paul Foreman (played by Peter Ash), who has MND, and his husband Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank).
The top ITV soap has aired scenes in which it is clear Paul and Billy have just had sex. And to Mike, 40, and Zoe, 33, spreading the message that intimacy still exists in disabled people’s relationships is very important.
Zoe and Mike first met on TV show First Dates (Channel 4)The pair met filming the hit Channel 4 show First Dates in March 2020. They wed in 2022 after growing close following Mike’s MND diagnosis in November 2020. He had gone to the doctor with strange feelings in his leg – his grandmother died of the degenerative neurological condition. Mike says: “We knew we were in love but, unlike other new couples, didn’t have years ahead of us, so had to cherish every day.”
These days he is almost completely non-verbal, uses a wheelchair, and is reliant on Zoe for most of his needs. He types love messages to his wife on his iGaze tablet, which tracks his eye movements. When they were both approached by the MND Association about Coronation Street Presents The Love Inside campaign, the couple, from Sheffield, said yes. The adverts, which run until July, feature a voiceover by Corrie star and MND Association ambassador Daniel Brocklebank plus the song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack, who also has the disease.
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Soap fan Mike with wife Zoe on the Corrie set (FRAN BOWDEN / MIRROR FEATURES)Mike, a Corrie fan since childhood, says: “We want to show the reality of this disease, but also how we’re living every single day to the full while we can. “We’ve also never been more in love, which is a very important message.” Zoe says: “There’s this strange mystery or taboo in society around people with disabilities having romance, or having sex lives, and it’s brilliant that this subject is being shown in a soap like Corrie.
Mike and Zoe star in TV ad to raise awareness about MND (FRAN BOWDEN / MIRROR FEATURES)“It’s mad that people seem to wince or recoil when disabled people talk about sex and intimacy. Our love life is amazing and we couldn’t be prouder of who we are and what we represent.” Mike adds: “We’re more tactile and intimate than ever, I’d say, and it’s vital we talk openly about these things.”
Life expectancy after an MND diagnosis is one to five years, and 10% of people with MND live 10 years or more. Mike and Zoe are determined to stay positive. And while Mike admits there are dark days, he adds: “It’s difficult sometimes, but in no small part Zoe has got me through some really difficult stuff. That brings a lot of light into the darkness.”
To support the MND Association, visit mndassociation.org
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