Antony Cotton – Actor, Coronation Street

b. 5 August 1975

English actor and singer best known for his roles in Coronation Street and the original UK version of Queer as Folk. 

Cotton played Alexander in the original UK version of Queer as Folk. He has also appeared in episodes of Absolutely Fabulous as the character Damon. Cotton currently plays barman and factory worker Sean Tully in Coronation Street. Cotton asked for a part on the show, and created the character with some of the show's writers. 

Antony is a passionate supporter of the Terrence Higgins Trust. He is a patron of the LGF charity in Manchester, The Albert Kennedy Trust and also the Queer Up North festival. On 13 January 2007, Cotton won the second series of ITV's Soapstar Superstar. He donated his winning money, £200,000, to the Elton John Aids Foundation.

He was named at number 33 on the DS list of the "50 Most Influential Gays", 2011:

From Queer as Folk to the Corrie cobbles, soap fans fell in love with Antony’s character Sean Tully when he joined the soap in 2003. The public voted him as the winner of the second series of Soapstar Superstar and he donated his £200,00 prize to the Elton John Aids Foundation.  “When I auditioned for Coronation Street, I thought I couldn’t do what I’d been doing before, which was going into auditions and pretending to be straight,” Antony recalls. “Alexander in Queer As Folk was the first gay part I ever played. If I was going be in Coronation Street, it had to be as a gay character.”