| Izzy Armstrong | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronation Street character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Cherylee Houston | ||||||||
| Introduced by | Kim Crowther | ||||||||
| Duration | 2010— | ||||||||
| First appearance | 16 April 2010 | ||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Date of birth | 2 June 1986 | ||||||||
| Home | Grayling Street | ||||||||
| Occupation | Machinist | ||||||||
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Isabelle 'Izzy' Armstrong is a fictional character on the UK soap Coronation Street portrayed by Cherylee Houston. The character first appears on-screen on April 16, 2010; she is introduced as a new love interest for Kirk Sutherland. Soon after her arrival she gets a job at the Underworld factory. She is the soap's first disabled regular character in 50 years.[1] Izzy was the first member of the Armstrong family to be introduced, her father Owen and sister Katy arrived within two months after her first appearance.
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In April 2010 Izzy turns up in The Rovers for her blind date with Kirk (Andrew Whyment). Disaster strikes when she spots Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) - who she believes to be Kirk. Unbeknown to Jason, Kirk's used his photo for his dating profile. As Izzy storms out of the pub, Izzy crashes her wheelchair into Gary Windass (Mikey North) and they immediately have cross words. Gary takes a shine to her feistiness and when he bumps into her again later in the day, there's a clear spark.
On May 7, 2010 Kirk arranges another date with Izzy. Their date goes well, as the conversation flows back and forth with ease. She meets Fiz Stape (Jennie McAlpine) and Sean Tully (Antony Cotton) but she snaps at David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd) and Graeme Proctor (Craig Gazey) for spying on them, soon after it's not long before Izzy jumps down Liz McDonald's (Beverley Callard) throat, accusing her of talking down to her. Izzy then bosses Kirk into applying for the machinist job at Underworld. With that, Kirk begins to wonder what he's let himself in for.
Izzy returns again on May 21, 2010 when she applies for a machinist job at Underworld which Carla Connor (Alison King) lets her have after being impressed by her spirit. She finds it upsetting to tell Kirk that she has accepted the job. Kirk says he never really cared about the job anyway. She is relieved about that soon after when Carla offers Kirk a job delivering goods, which he accepts. A few days later she sees Jason in the factory she looks at him but he doesn't notice her so she gets upset.
In June 2010 Tony Gordon (Gray O'Brien) blows up Underworld, killing himself, Robbie Sloan (James Fleet) and leaving her and Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle), Julie Carp (Katy Cavanagh) and others jobless. Also that day while drowning her sorrows her father Owen Armstrong (Ian Puleston-Davies) arrives in The Rovers while she is having a conversation with Gary, she snaps at him for following her.[2] In June 2010 Izzy begins working for Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) with the other employees but soon works for Carla again after being persuaded by her. Later that month Owen gets a job helping to rebuild Underworld to the annoyance of Izzy and Bill Webster (Peter Armitage). In August 2010 Bill accidentally drops cement on her from some scaffolding, which Owen gets involved with and he and Bill begin arguing with Owen claiming that Bill is too old for the business, which resulted in endangering Izzy. However, Izzy steps in by telling Owen that the only one who treats her as disabled is him.
Izzy is secretly delighted when she sees Gary back on the Street in September 2010. She arranges to meet him for a drink, but he stands her up when he is seduced by Kylie Turner (Paula Lane). Izzy is extremely annoyed when she sees them both on the street the following day. When a young man in the Rovers later insults Izzy, Gary is quick to step in which results in a fight outside the pub, and Gary is questioned by the police about the assault. Izzy feels bad, when she finds out what has happened, and urges Kirk, who witnessed the fight, not to tell the police anything in order to save Gary from prosecution. When Kirk, who secretly fancies Izzy, lies to the police that he started the fight, Izzy softens towards Gary and tells him that she is glad that he is free.
In November 2010, Izzy is shocked to discover that Gary has been injured in Afghanistan and one of his best friends Quinny (Steven Bell) has been killed. Gary returns home a few days later and Izzy sticks by his side. She becomes very concerned about Gary's aggressive behaviour and withdrawn manner as it is clear he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
In January 2011, She asks Owen to give Gary a job at the builder's yard. He complies with Izzy's request but Gary is accidentally locked in the van by Jason, Gary then gets out and attacks Owen. Owen tells Izzy he won't report him if she ends her relationship with him. Izzy is defiant and refuses to break up with Gary, as it is clear he is still traumatised. In July 2011, Izzy is robbed by a gang of teenagers. After learning of this Gary begins to be over protective of her and takes away her wheel chair and refuses to let her leave the house. When Katy and her boyfriend Chesney Brown (Sam Aston) turn up at the house asking to speak to Izzy, Gary tells them that she is asleep, Katy spots there is something wrong and tells her father Owen about Gary acting strange. Owen later goes round to the house and knocks on the door but no one answers, so he kicks the door down and spots Gary with Izzy in the corner crying, Gary later lets Izzy go and Gary goes and lives with his mum, Anna Windass (Debbie Rush) for a few weeks.
Izzy grew up in a council house with her family. Her father Owen was faithful but her mother was an alcoholic and a drug addict who cheated on her husband. Izzy's mother left Owen for a man called Billy Jefferson. The character of Izzy was announced in early 2010 as a love interest for Kirk. It was announced that Izzy would be played by actress Cherylee Houston. Shortly afterwards the character's father was also confirmed to appear in Coronation Street in mid June 2010 along with her younger sister. Izzy is a wheelchair user.[1] Commenting on her casting Cherylee Houston said "I’m really excited and well chuffed to be joining the show. I grew up with Coronation Street and I can’t wait to get started. I’m really looking forward to getting my teeth into the character."
Cherylee began fillming in February 2010 and signed a contract for an initial seven episodes, which was soon extended for six months.[3] Izzy is described as having a feisty and fiery personality. She is usually attracted to bad boys and has been known in the past to be a heartbreaker due to her troubled background and messy romantic history.
During the character's first episode she clashes with regulars such as Jason Grimshaw, Anna Windass and Gary Windass, establishing the character's strong personality. A few weeks later she clashes with other strong characters such as Liz McDonald to whom Liz takes a disliking. Izzy's surname was initially intended to be Butterfield, although by the transmission of her first episode it had been changed to Armstrong.[4]
On her introduction to the programme, the character of Izzy was promoted as Coronation Street's first disabled regular, although Maud Grimes, who first appeared in 1993, also used a wheelchair. In one of Izzy's early scenes, viewers see Eddie Windass (Steve Huison) insult the feisty newcomer by telling Kirk: "You don't want to go out with a bird in a wheelchair." Asked how disabled viewers will have felt about the remark, Houston replied: "They were probably going, 'Thank God that's showing reality'.[5] Shortly after her first scenes producers were pleased with her impact and decided to introduce a family for her.[6][7][8]
Actress Cherylee Houston was Nominated for Best Newcomer at the Inside Soap Awards 2010 for her portrayal of Izzy Armstrong.[9][10] But lost out to Emmett J. Scanlan, who plays Brendan Brady in Hollyoaks