Coronation Street bosses have gone to great lengths to ensure Ed Bailey’s gambling addiction storyline is as true to life as possible.

The character, played by Trevor Michael Georges, has been struggling to control his gambling in recent months.

Viewers saw a building yard fire break out in Weatherfield last week, with the cause of the incident being suspicious as it happened at the same time Ed was struggling to sell his family construction business.

Ed had been desperately scrambling for cash and at Christmas told his family he’d had to sell their presents to claw back some of the money he’d lost through his gambling addiction.

To ensure soap bosses were telling a story which was true to life, they enlisted the help of an expert who, as a recovered gambling addict, had similar real life experience.

Coronation Street bosses have gone to great lengths to ensure Ed Bailey’s (pictured) gambling addiction storyline is as true to life as possible

The character, played by Trevor Michael Georges (pictured), has been struggling to control his gambling in recent months

Colin Walsh, 46, went to extreme lengths to fund his own addiction over a 20-year period.

He took money from his business after racking up debts worth thousands, with the former recruitment director’s problems spiralling out of control.

He told the Mirror: ‘It is fantastic Coronation Street is running this gambling storyline and showing how easily gambling can get out of control. 

‘I gambled for 20 years and, at its height, I was gambling daily, both online and in person at the bookies. 

‘I started at the age of 16 on a few sports, I carried on through university and by the time I left, I was gambling more regularly.’

He told how his friends and family had no clue about what was going on, adding that he became ‘an expert at hiding my behaviour’.  

Colin explained: ‘At the height of my gambling, I had more than 10 online accounts and I would be regularly gambling large stakes online. I have never calculated how much in total, but I know it was a large chunk of cash.

‘The problem is that my debts got bigger and bigger. I had credit cards, loans and overdrafts that kept increasing. In my head, I kept telling myself that I was due a big win and then everything would be OK.’

Colin Walsh, 46 (pictured), went to extreme lengths to fund his own addiction over a 20-year period and drew on his real-life experience to advise Coronation Street bosses

Colin took money from his company to fund his habit and finally sought help when they quizzed him over where they cash had gone.

After confessing to them what had happened, he then sat his wife down to tell her – a conversation he said was one of the most difficult in his life.

He realised his problems went beyond his financial affairs and were in fact connected to his mental health.

Colin praised his wife for supporting him as he went about getting help and kicking his habit.

Ed was questioned over the fire on Coronation Street this week, with his family admitting they knew how bad things had got for him.

And he made a confession about the fire which left his loved ones stunned.

He said: ‘Everything I told the police was the truth. I didn’t start that fire. I didn’t stop it either.’

Ed had been desperately scrambling for cash and at Christmas told his family he’d had to sell their presents to claw back some of the money he’d lost through his gambling addiction

Ed said the fire started by accident but he turned his back and a sleeping bag went up in flames causing it to spread.

‘My mind went blank… I just froze,’ he explained. ‘I just wanted it all to go away. The yard, the debts, the sleepless nights. And it flashed across my mind, if I just stayed there, it would all be over.’

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.

For help with a gambling problem phone GamCare 24 hours a day on 0808 8020 133 or visit www.gamcare.org.uk