Steve McDonald is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Simon Gregson. The character first appeared on-screen during an episode airing on 6 December 1989. He arrived as part of the McDonald family, introduced by producer Mervyn Watson along with his twin brother Andy (Nicholas Cochrane) and parents Liz (Beverley Callard) and Jim McDonald (Charles Lawson). For the first year on the Street, the character was credited by the actor's real surname Gregory, before changing to Gregson from early 1991 onwards. Steve is Coronation Street most married character, having been married seven times to five women: Vicky Arden (Chloe Newsome), Karen McDonald (twice) (Suranne Jones), Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly), Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh), and Tracy Barlow (twice) (Kate Ford). In September 2015, Gregson announced a break for personal reasons, and Steve was off-screen from November 2015 to 22 April 2016.
Steve's other storylines include his many failed relationships: with Fiona Middleton (Angela Griffin), Ronnie Clayton (Emma Stansfield), and Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson), as well as Tracy giving birth to his daughter Amy (Elle Mulvaney) and his depression. He also has a son, Oliver, with Leanne, whom he impregnated whilst his wife Michelle was pregnant with Ruairi. However, Ruairi was stillborn. In 2019, Steve and Tracy struggled to cope when their then 14-year-old daughter, Amy, fell pregnant by gang member Tyler Jefferies (Will Barnett). Steve later discovered that hairdresser Emma Brooker (played by Alexandra Mardell) is his biological daughter from his relationship with Fiona, 20 years before Emma arrives in Weatherfield. In 2020, Steve and Leanne discovered that their 3-year-old son Oliver had mitochondrial disease, which later claimed his life.
Casting Gregson began his time in Coronation Street at the age of fifteen in 1989, when he and Nicholas Cochrane were selected to play the teenage twin sons of a new family in The Street.
Gregson makes a cameo appearance as himself in Red Dwarf: Back to Earth, in which the main characters track down Craig Charles (who plays Dave Lister in Red Dwarf and Steve's Street Cars colleague Lloyd Mullaney in Coronation Street) on the set of the soap.
In September 2015, it was announced that Gregson had taken an extended break from the show for "personal reasons" and that Steve would be off-screen for several months. He would also not appear in the upcoming live episode, but would feature in the episodes on either side of it. Steve departed in November 2015 and returned in April 2016. In a 2023 interview, Gregson revealed his break was due to panic attacks.
In October 2022, Gregson broke his leg in six places while at his home. He said, "I've broken my leg. I literally just went over and rolled my ankle, outside the back of the house. It was done in six places." When Gregson did return, the storyline had to be adjusted to his injury.
Development
Relationships
Fiona Middleton After Steve's relationship with Vicky Arden (Chloe Newsome) ends, he decides to pursue Fiona Middleton (Angela Griffin). Gregson reckoned she was a good match for his character, as he needed someone he could have a good time with and who shared his interests. He also wanted someone who was not looking for a serious relationship. Gregson described Fiona as a female version of Steve, and said, "She's a real woman of the Nineties who knows what she wants. She's also pretty streetwise, which Steve loves." Steve and Fiona's relationship is strained when Fiona becomes fed up with playing hard to get and then shows him up at a party. Griffin said Fiona is giving Steve "a run for his money" and that he is not sure how to react, as he has never met someone like her before. The actress also said that Steve treated Vicky badly, and Fiona will not put up with the same behaviour, which is why she was angry that he treated her as "an unpaid skivvy" at his party.
When Fiona meets Steve's ex-girlfriend Vicky, she immediately sees her as a threat to her relationship. Steve carries on gambling, and it becomes clear that Vicky still has feelings for Steve. Vicky discovers that Fiona and Steve's relationship has been difficult despite them deciding to move in together. Steve promises to stop gambling, but when he learns that Vicky has inherited £240,000, he gets back with her.Little 1995, p.234. Griffin believed that Fiona was actually more annoyed at Steve for flaunting his relationship with Vicky in her presence than losing him. She concluded, "I reckon she's had a pretty lucky escape."
Karen McDonald Steve began a relationship with Karen McDonald, played by Suranne Jones. Rick Fulton of the Daily Record noted that Karen vows to be more "wily" with her romantic interests after seeing her friend Bobbi "wrapping boyfriend Vikram Desai (Chris Bisson) around her little finger". Her friend and colleague Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle) makes a series of bets with Karen regarding how new boyfriend Steve treats her: this culminates in Janice betting Karen that she can get Steve to propose to her. Of the storyline, Jones stated that: "Karen can't believe she's on the verge of getting married for a bet". She characterises Karen as "not the type of girl to back out of a tricky situation" and states that she and Steve find themselves "in a game of bluff" with each "waiting for the other to pull out. Gregson felt the marriage was "quite fitting" and that his character "thinks it's a bit of a laugh". The wedding scenes were filmed on 6 May 2001 and screened on 30 May 2001. Billy Sloan of the Sunday Mail stated that the scenes were "guaranteed to provide a bit of light relief" after serious storylines such as Toyah Battersby's (Georgia Taylor) rape and Alma Baldwin's (Amanda Barrie) cervical cancer diagnosis. Jones felt that Steve was "definitely the man for Karen" as the two characters had "similar personalities". She stated that Karen had dumped her previous boyfriend, Vikram, because he "wasn't racy enough and doesn't have the edge Steve has".
In September 2001, Jones stated that she "[feels] sorry for Steve sometimes" in regard to Karen's negative characteristics. She indicated that she'd "love to see Steve and Karen having the same impact on viewers as Dirty Den and Angie did". In November 2001, the two characters fall out because Karen insults Steve's mother Liz, though they later end up back together. Discussing the success of the pairing, Gregson compared Steve and Karen to "a mini Jack and Vera" with "the shouting and the arguments" and "the feistiness of the characters". He added that Steve and Karen "can't live with each other and can't live without each other". Gregson also remarked that the relationship was "going back to what Coronation Street set out to be" which he felt to be "hen-pecked husbands and very strong women".
Becky McDonald
Steve embarks on an affair with fellow resident Becky McDonald, portrayed by Katherine Kelly. Kelly revealed that she felt Steve was the best man for Becky over her previous lover Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas), stating: "Both boys bring out different things in Becky. With Jason, they liked going clubbing, and it was no strings attached, I think Becky needs more than that, even though she wouldn't admit it. I think, long-term, Steve's better for her." When Gregson was interviewed by entertainment website Digital Spy, he was asked if he thought that Steve has had a positive impact on Becky's life. In reply he stated: "I think he's turned it around. She was all over the place getting into trouble all the time but he's made her grow up. And having a little girl there in Amy, that's made her grow a bit, too. She's got responsibilities now. She's besotted with him. She's still a total pisshead, though!" Steve and Becky attempted to marry twice in 2009, their first wedding was given a promotional push from ITV who aired adverts for the first wedding episodes. Their relationship was featured in a series of romantic plots which ITV dubbed the "Summer of Love" season of the soap, with advertisements airing.
Depression and reunion with Michelle Connor
In 2014, Producer Stuart Blackburn revealed that Steve's depression storyline was going to be a big storyline, stating: "It's going to run through the autumn and build up from there. On Christmas Day and beyond, we'll see a real challenge to Steve and Michelle's relationship. I absolutely know that Simon Gregson and Kym Marsh are very good actors. I hope that the great comedy that Steve brings will absolutely be on screen for the next decade and onwards, but I also wanted to explore a story where Steve looked in the mirror on his 40th birthday and started to wonder whether he was really good enough for Michelle. He also blamed himself for Lloyd's heart attack and he feels guilty for his role in what happened to Tina. Steve is taking a long, hard look at himself and he's not liking what he sees. It's going to run from there, and there will still be comedy in the lead-up as Steve tries to hide away from the demons in his head. Fundamentally what I wanted to do is tell what will hopefully be a really positive, uplifting love story between Michelle and Steve."
In January 2015, it was revealed that Steve would reunite Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) in the aftermath of the upcoming mini bus crash storyline. It was also confirmed that Steve and Michelle would be the next Weatherfield couple to tie the knot. Speaking of this Marsh said; "I'm delighted, absolutely delighted. It'll be weird after being Michelle Connor for nearly nine years, but it totally makes sense for us as characters. Simon and I love working together, and nobody likes to see us broken up." It was also revealed that Michelle would get "feisty" again when her Steve is blamed for the mini-bus crash.
Marsh also revealed that Michelle and Steve's mother, Liz, would clash over the best course of action for Steve. With Michelle now focused solely on helping Steve to get better with his depression following their reconciliation, she faces opposition from his mother Liz as it becomes apparent that they have very different approaches. While Liz adopts a "tough love" approach with her son, Michelle thinks they should tread more carefully around him, worried about his vulnerable state. Marsh said: "They both obviously want to help Steve but because both of them are so worried about him and love him so much - they both want to help him in their own way. Understandably they clash as they're both so concerned about him. They both have different approaches - Liz is more of the tough love approach and tries to get Steve up and doing things, whereas Michelle is much more trying the softly-softly approach." Marsh added: "Liz doesn't think it's the best way because Michelle is so protective of Steve and doesn't want to hurt or upset him. After everything that's happened with the crash, Michelle thinks they should go easy on him." Despite the disagreement, Marsh believed that the pair would be able to put their differences aside eventually in order to work together to help Steve.
Michelle and Leanne Battersby's pregnancies