Carrie Grant was fighting back the tears on Monday when she appeared on Loose Women with her daughter Talia, 16, to discuss her autism diagnosis and her new role in Hollyoaks. At the beginning of the interview, a clip of Talia in role as newcomer Brooke Hathaway was played, but it all got too much for proud mum Carrie, who was overwhelmed with emotion at her daughter's success. Talia then told the panel, including Ann Diamond and Stacey Solomon, that she was excited to be the first actress with autism to land a role in a UK soap. The teenager's character will be adopted by the Osborne family, and it sounds like she has already fitted right in. "Hollyoaks are really supportive and really nice. I learn my lines quite quickly," she told the impressed panel.
During the interview, Carrie and Talia also reflected on Talia's autism, something she wasn’t diagnosed with until her younger sister Imogen went in for tests. "I feel like I've always felt like I am a bit different," Talia revealed. "When I tell someone I have autism, they say 'no you don't as there is a spectrum of it," she added. "Because Talia doesn’t have any learning disabilities she doesn’t fall under the radar," Carrie explained. When asked if she would ever cover up how she was feeling before getting the diagnosis, Talia said: "I didn’t know what it was so I didn’t know I had autism, but I just knew I felt different and didn’t know what about me felt different but I felt really out of it and the odd one out."
Carrie Grant and her daughter Talia spoke about living with autism
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A mother to four children with special needs, Carrie and her husband David Grant embrace their children's differences, and wouldn’t want to change them for the world. Carrie said: "If someone came along and said there’s a special tablet that takes away Talia's autism, I'd say forget it, she’s amazing, she’s the actress she is on Hollyoaks because of it" she said. As well as Talia, the celebrity couple are parents to Oliva, 23, also an actress who has ADHD and dyspraxia, Imogen, 12, who is autistic and has ADHD, and Nathan, whom David and Carrie adopted as a two-year-old, has attachment issues and ADHD.
MORE: Hollyoaks cast Carrie and David Grant's daughter Talia - and she is making TV history!
Carrie has previously spoken out about her children during an interview with HELLO!, admitting that when they are all together it can be "wonderful madness". "When we’re together, it can be the most wonderful madness where we’re laughing and bouncing off each other. Or we’re having to deal with behavioural issues because one or more of the children are kicking off. Or one or more is in a really low place and you’re talking them round, giving them the will to live," she said.