Sad news for long-time fans of British soap Coronation Street as it’s emerged that the actress who played barmaid Poppy Morales, Sophiya Haque, has passed away aged just 41.

Sophiya Haque passed away aged 41

 

Sophiya Haque had a diverse career, cruelly short aged 41

In a tragic unfolding of events, Haque fell ill just before Christmas and was told just days ago that she had a form of cancer. According to the Evening Standard, she was receiving tests in a London hospital when she developed a clot on her lung and died in the early hours of this morning (January 17). Her agent Olivier Thomson was among the very first to pay tribute, the shaken friend saying “Sophiya was a wonderful actress, a wonderful client but so much more than that a wonderful friend. She was adored by everyone she worked with and will be deeply missed.”

Haque was in a relationship with musical director David White when she fell ill, the couple were in the process of building a houseboat together. As well as Coronation Street, Haque enjoyed a fruitful career elsewhere; her first flush of success actually came as a pop star, when her band Akasa were signed by Warner Bros. in 1988. She then moved on to host at MTV Asia for seven years, before going to Mumbai and becoming a dancer in several Bollywood films from 1997. Returning to the UK in 2002, she had a successful career in stage before finding her way onto Corrie.