From the drama of Coronation Street and Emmerdale to her dazzling routines on Dancing On Ice, Hayley Tamaddon has been on our TV screens for 20 years. Today, the single mum is channelling her energy into a cause close to her heart — fighting to ensure every child in the UK has a decent breakfast before school.
Hayley, 48, who played Delilah ‘Del’ Dingle in Emmerdale and Andrea Beckett in Coronation Street, has teamed up with Magic Breakfast — a charity that provides primary schools with essential food items, including cereal, bagels, bread and milk
“No kid in the UK should go to school with an empty tummy,” she tells us. “Food is fuel, and eating breakfast helps children’s brains and muscles become stronger. Breakfast clubs also help them feel included and become more independent. There are so many benefits.”
As mum to five-year-old son Jasper, it’s something she’s hugely passionate about. “It breaks my heart that we live in a time when not every child gets breakfast. I talk to Jasper about how lucky he is, but I’d hope if I was ever really struggling, somebody would help me.”
The government is piloting breakfast clubs across primary schools in England, but the measures don’t yet cover the whole nation. It also doesn’t include all special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) providers or children aged over 11.
“What about kids in secondary schools whose families may be struggling?” adds Hayley.
“The cost of living is soaring, so why can’t we feed every child, whether they’re five or 15? Universal provision across the UK is what Magic Breakfast is pushing for — that’s why I want to be involved.”
Campaigning is a bit of a sea change for Blackpool-based Hayley, who appeared in Emmerdale from 2005 to 2007 and Corrie between 2013 and 2015. The veteran actress became a household name after playing Del Dingle on Emmerdale for two years, before going on to appear in a string of shows including Shameless and Waterloo Road.
We last saw her fleeing the cobbles for a new life in Jersey when her role was cut — but she’d never rule out returning. “I’d go back to either soap in a heartbeat,” she says.
In 2010, Hayley won the fifth series of Dancing On Ice with skating partner Daniel Whiston, and when the pair returned for Champion Of Champions in 2014, she was filming Corrie at the same time.
Last year, Hayley’s son Jasper was also rushed to hospital. The star told her followers that the tot “couldn’t stop being sick”. She informed fans that he was having “lots of tests” as medical experts attempted to get to the bottom of his illness.
Jasper was admitted to a ward following his trip and was placed on an IV drip. Meanwhile, Hayley herself suffered another scary diagnosis in 2022, having been diagnosed with viral meningitis.
