Soap Must Go On: Freddie Mercury's Guilty Pleasure You Never Knew Before

No matter how different people are, there is one thing that can unite them all: TV shows. Ever since the first black-and-white classics hit the screens in the 1930s, people have made it a tradition to gather around the television at night to enjoy episodes of their favorite soaps or dramas.

There are reports of many people who used to take great pleasure in watching soap operas.

From Princess Diana, who was a big fan of ABC's General Hospital and even sent some gifts to the set, to Freddie Mercury, who dedicated one of Queen's most popular music videos to the popular soap Coronation Street, everyone seems to enjoy a good episode filled with scandal and intrigue.

The concept of a music video for I Want to Break Free was suggested by the band's drummer Roger Taylor. The video features the members of a band dressed in drag as a parody of a Coronation Street character. Although the concept of drag wasn't new to British audiences, the video was met with a lot of raised eyebrows in the US.

As it turned out, Taylor was not the only one familiar with Coronation Street. According to Peter "Phoebe" Freestone, who worked as Freddie Mercury's personal assistant from 1979 to 1991, Mercury himself was no stranger to soap operas. Not only did he watch Coronation Street, but he could also enjoy an episode or two of the BBC's Eastenders.

Although Mercury wasn't anything like a crazy fan, the musician was very supportive of his girlfriend Anita Dobson, who played Angie Watts in Eastenders at the time, so it's no wonder he was interested in the show as well.

If you want to feel a little closer to the rock legend that was Freddie Mercury, you can stream a few episodes of either Coronation Street or Eastenders yourself. Coronation Street is available on Hulu and Eastenders is available on Amazon Prime.

Source: FreddieMercury.com