Highlights
- Beverley Callard, 69, lost consciousness for around 10 minutes while filming Irish soap Fair City on Thursday
- An ambulance was called as standard on-set protocol; she declined to go to hospital and says she felt fine afterwards
- She is still awaiting results from stomach biopsies and is due back at hospital next week
- The scare comes months after she finished radiotherapy for breast cancer, first diagnosed earlier this year — in a phone call she received minutes before filming a Fair City scene
Beverley Callard has had two frightening moments on the set of Fair City this year, and both arrived the same way: without warning, in the middle of an ordinary day at work.
What happened on set
Callard described the day in a video posted to Instagram on Thursday evening. "I've been at work this week, filming the most amazing scenes, really good, great scripts," she said. "It was all going swimmingly and then today, I've no idea what happened to me. I was all ready to start a new scene, we just sat there getting ready, about to run lines, and I sort of… the only way to explain it is I lost consciousness for a few minutes, maybe 10 minutes, which was very odd."
She said protocol at Fair City meant an ambulance had to be called. "I desperately didn't want to go to hospital. I recovered and then felt fine again," she said. In her caption, she wrote: "That was an eventful day at work! Not really something I can explain but I certainly wasn't expecting a visit from paramedics today. I'm feeling fine now… just another sign that something isn't quite right."
She also revealed she's still waiting on further test results. "I'm awaiting the results of these other tests, some of these biopsies they've taken from my stomach," she said. "If anyone else has had this please let me know because I don't know at all."
An echo of how her diagnosis began
There's a strange symmetry to where this happened. When Callard first told fans in February that she had breast cancer, she revealed the news had reached her the same way — mid-shift, at Fair City. "I'd had some tests just before I left the UK, and literally 15, 20 minutes before I was in my dressing room at Fair City, getting ready to go on," she told RTÉ's Late Late Show at the time. Her consultant called to say she needed to fly home immediately for treatment.
She's since had surgery and completed a course of radiotherapy, finishing in July. It isn't the first time a Fair City or soap set has been the backdrop for a serious health scare in her life, either — she previously told the BBC in 2016 that she'd collapsed on the Coronation Street set in 2009, after feeling unwell for 18 months beforehand, during a period she has since spoken about candidly as part of her long battle with clinical depression.
From Liz McDonald to Lily Patterson
Callard is best known to British audiences as Liz McDonald, the sharp-tongued landlady of the Rovers Return, a role she played on and off from 1989 to 2020 across more than 2,000 episodes of Coronation Street. Since leaving the cobbles, she's taken on I'm a Celebrity twice — finishing 10th in the 2020 series filmed in Wales during the pandemic, and returning for the 2026 South Africa all-stars spin-off, where she memorably threatened to "chin" former boxer David Haye after he picked a younger campmate over her for a team challenge.
She joined Fair City in February 2026 as Lily Patterson, described by broadcaster RTÉ as "quirky, unpredictable and sharp as a tack" — the long-lost mother of established character Gwen. She was mid-scene with the actress who plays her on-screen daughter when Thursday's incident happened.
How fans have responded
Callard's Instagram post was quickly filled with messages of support from followers. "Oh no, so sorry, I hope you get better soon," one wrote. Another said they were "sending a big hug" to the star, while a third told her: "You are a beautiful, strong lady & your dogs absolutely love you by your side."
No co-star or colleague from Fair City had issued a public statement at the time of writing. Callard is due back at hospital next week for further tests.
