Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley cancels birthday after 'cakegate' scandal

British soap star Catherine Tyldesley has canceled her 40th birthday party following reports she requested free cakes from a small business for the event.

The Mirror reports that Tyldesley, 39, was "blindsided" by the scandal.

She "found the whole thing very upsetting so she's decided on a quieter celebration", their source revealed. Adding: "She doesn't blame NVRLND, but the whole situation left a sour taste so she felt it best to call it off."

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NVRLND is the events firm Tyldesley hired to organise the event and who were allegedly responsible for the email sent to Three Little Birds bakery owner Rebecca Severs.

Now dubbed "cakegate", the scandal arose a month ago when Severs shared the email exchange on her Facebook.

The email asked Severs to provide two cakes and 100 cupcakes for a "well-known" celebrity in exchange for "promotion on her socials".

The "well-known celebrity" was revealed to be Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley.

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Severs replied saying her "mortgage provider does not take payment in the form of promotion on their socials". The response quickly went viral.

Tyldesley took to her Instagram account at the time to refute the claims. "I had no idea those emails were being sent. I would never ask anyone to work for free or provide product for free," she said in a now-deleted video.

"NVRLND are an amazing company who I've worked with in the past, they raise thousands of pounds for charity and have been completely misrepresented."

The 39-year-old actress also said she had received abuse because of the claims.

Severs has since published a blog post on her website to address the scandal. She wrote she agrees the viral story shouldn't be "news", but the financial pressures small businesses face should be.

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"It's no wonder that #cakegate hit people in the feels. This short email exchange feels like a microcosm of what we are going through collectively. The rich getting richer, and ordinary people getting poorer," Severs wrote.

"Why should anyone get a freebie when all my clients pay me their hard earned, hard fought for cash to buy our cakes for a special occasion? It's not only an insult to me and my staff, it's an insult to our loyal clients."

Severs also has a #cakegate story highlight saved on the Three Little Birds Instagram.