Kym Marsh walked away with the award for Best Female Dramatic Performance at this year’s British Soap Awards for her harrowing portrayal as Coronation Street’s Michelle Connor – who lost her baby son Ruairi at 23 weeks. The brave mum, who tragically lost her own son, Archie, who died at 21 weeks in 2009, dedicated her win to her late 'angel baby.' After being presented the award by Martine McCutcheon, Kym said: "Michelle and Steve’s baby loss storyline was perhaps the most difficult thing I have had to do in my career, and for Simon.
STORY: Kym Marsh shares agony of losing baby son Archie: 'I just wanted to stay hidden forever'
Kym Marsh dedicated her award to her late baby son Archie
"It took us back to places that we didn’t want to go to again, but we wanted to, so many people are going through this right now as we are sitting here.
"As most of you know, I have gone through that myself, so has Simon (Gregson), so has Jane (Danson).
"I am so proud of the show for telling the story.. for breaking the silence, and letting people know they are not alone."
Ending, Kym thanked her family, joking: "To my partner Matthew, thank you for putting up my moods."
Kym then went on to thank her children, including son David who was sitting in the audience, proudly beaming at his mum. "To my wonderful children, David, Emily and Polly – you are the reason I smile. I would like to dedicate this award to my son Archie and all those angel babies."
Kym Marsh and Simon Gregson gave harrowing performances mirroring their real life experiences
Discussing the difficult task of acting out a storyline mirroring her own experience, Kym previously opened up to The Sun, saying: "Corrie were brilliant and arranged for me to have access to a counsellor before and during filming. "He was there to bring me back to now after those scenes. But I still had horrible moments."
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Of the scene where Michelle sees her baby, Kym said: "After 'cut' was called, I had to sit there for a few minutes, telling myself, 'It's Michelle, not Kym'. That was the hardest moment. But I made myself go there, and open those wounds."
Adding that she has no regrets for going through with the storyline, the soap star said: "I wanted to help women like me, and I wanted to honour Archie. I knew it would be really painful but this is an issue that affects thousands of families every year and it's something that often isn't talked about. I wanted to show people all of those little things that really hurt me. Michelle heard other babies crying on the ward, and that's exactly what happened to me."