Tag: Coronation street

Coronation Street airs Sarah Harding’s first scenes next week as she makes a dramatic debut as Robert Preston’s wife Joni.

The former Girls Aloud singer will appear on the ITV soap for a short stint, which will see Joni discover that Tracy Barlow has become a rival for Robert’s affections.

Here, Sarah chats about her time on set and the battle ahead with Tracy!
How did your involvement in Coronation Street come about?
“I was on the Corrie set last year with Good Morning Britain as I was doing the Great Meal Appeal. We got chatting and everyone could see that I’m a really big fan of the show. I went a bit mental running round the set getting pictures outside Audrey’s, The Rovers, Roy’s Rolls and the ginnel, as everyone probably saw on my Twitter! I was very excited!

“I’ve been a fan of the show for years. My mum’s side of the family are all from up north. So I said to my manager, ‘Do you think they’d be up for me making a cameo appearance?’ I’ve done some acting before as I’ve appeared in a few films.”

Did you have to keep it a secret?
“I did! I didn’t really tell anyone, only my mum and my fella. I was so excited but nervous at the same time. I’m honoured to have a part in this programme but I was a bit overwhelmed with it! It’s a lot of pressure as well. When it got announced, no-one believed it because it was April Fool’s Day! I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s true!'”

How have your fans responded to the news?
“They are so excited. But I really hope I can do the Coronation Street audience justice as well as my fans. I hope I can cross over.”
There’s already been talk of you returning for more than your current stint of 4 episodes. Would you like to come back?
“I think it depends on the storyline and obviously I’ve got my music coming out this summer, so there’s loads going on for me. But obviously I’d love to come back and do some more bits and bobs. We don’t know at the moment but we’re just going to wait and see what happens.”

Will there be trouble ahead between Joni and Tracy Barlow?
“I was thrown in at the deep end, I really was! I started filming on the first day with Kate Ford who plays Tracy. She is the complete opposite of her character, she’s so lovely. I did scenes with Kate, Tristan Gemmill who plays Robert and Lisa George who plays Beth. It was really nerve-wrecking.

“We were filming on location, so there were paparazzi and there was a lot to learn. We actually filmed at a restaurant in Didsbury where I used to go to! But it was good fun, I got to give Tracy a slap! I’d be screaming and shouting at her, but as soon as they said ‘cut’ we’d be laughing and giggling!”

Is Joni shocked when she finds out that Robert is pursuing Tracy?
“Yeah, it is a shock. Joni has moved up with Robert to help run his restaurant, but he’s still holding a torch for Tracy. Joni’s not happy about it at all, so I play a woman on the edge but she is vulnerable at the same time.

“She does come across as angry and feisty, but she is also hurting and people have got to remember that. If you caught your husband having an affair, you would be, wouldn’t you?”

What has Robert and Joni’s marriage been like?
“Joni says something like, ‘I was expecting a lot more from the way you go on about her!’ Joni is aware that she’s not living up to Tracy’s standards. But then she turns up and sees Tracy and she’s like, ‘Really? Is that what I’m up against?’

“She is constantly in Tracy’s shadow. She is living a lie really and trying to believe that Robert will fall madly in love with her over time, but he’s never really lost that torch for Tracy. She is shocked when she sees them together and there are fireworks!”

What were your first scenes on the famous Corrie cobbles like?
“It’s weird, it’s such a massive institution. I shot on the cobbles for the time a few weeks ago with Malcom Hebden who plays Norris. That was good fun. Joni is trying to bang down Tracy’s front door and poor Norris gets in the firing line!”

How does Corrie compare to doing films?
“Corrie is very fast-paced. You have to learn on the spot sometimes. But with films you have a lot longer to do read-throughs and run-throughs. It’s very different with soaps, so for me it’s been a learning curve and it’s not always been easy but I’m so glad I’ve done it. It’s been a massive honour as well, because Corrie is one of my favourite soaps.”

Would you like your future to be in music or acting?
“Side by side, I think. I love my music but I love to think I have other options. I did train in acting when I was younger, which a lot of people don’t know. It mixes things up a little bit and keeps things interesting. I think these days you need to be more of an all-rounder.”
Have your former Girls Aloud bandmates been positive about you joining Corrie?
“Oh, they’ve been great. I don’t know if you saw their tweets but they’ve been really supportive. I spoke to Kimberley a few weeks ago, but we’re all so busy that it’s impossible to get us all in one room together at the moment.

“I was supposed to be there the other week when they got together. I kind of arranged that but I missed out because I had to work. But things are just mental busy at the moment. I’ve done Celebrity MasterChef, Corrie and my music, but it’s great to be busy.”

What kind of reaction do you think you’ll get from appearing on Corrie?
“I think it’s going to be a mixed reaction. People are going to be expecting a high standard. As long as I’m prepared for that, I think it will be fine. For me and Shayne Ward who’s also joining, we are probably going to be under a lot of criticism and scrutiny. It’s one of the nation’s biggest soaps, so there are going to be people who go, ‘Oh, she can’t act!’

“But I’m looking on the positive side. I’ve done something I really loved doing and I’ve met some really lovely people. Northerners are so friendly. Everyone on the cast has been so lovely. I would have loved to have had a scene with Beverly Callard who plays Liz or Alison King who plays Carla but I’m just happy that Corrie happened.”

Are you doing anything special for when your first episode airs?
“I am my own worst enemy when it comes to watching myself back. I was even scared about what they were going to show on MasterChef! I’m my own worst critic, I’m the same with the music. I’ll probably watch it with my mum!”
Did you know Shayne Ward before joining Corrie?
“We both auditioned for Popstars: The Rivals. He was only 16 at the time and his sister Lisa chaperoned him. So we all got the train down from Stockport and had seats together to go to the London auditions. We all got to know each other and I made really good friends with his sister Lisa. She was more my age. Shayne was only a bubba, bless him!

“But then he made his comeback on The X Factor. I’m really proud of Shayne. He’s really grown into a dashing young man! I think he’ll fit in really well with the Corrie set. He was in War Of The Worlds last year and is a great little actor and is a proper Northerner! He’s a real Manc.”

How’s everything going outside of work?
“I live outside of London these days in Buckinghamshire. It feels like I’ve got five children as I’ve got five animals. I’ve got three French bulldogs and two Persian cats. That is harder than children! Trying to keep on top of a house with that many animals and keeping your clothes clean and hair-free is impossible!

“I live the country life now. I’ve got a vegetable patch and everything. I’ve been planting beetroots. I’m definitely more content. I’m far removed from London these days. I’m out of the loop on a lot of things and having to get my head round social media a lot more. I really notice the noise when I’m in a busy place. I’m so used to the peace at night now – the sound of owls. I’m like an old woman!”

Source

As a life-long Corrie fan, Sarah Harding was ecstatic when offered a guest role in the popular soap, but managed to abide by the rules and keep the information to herself.

“Well, I told my mum and fella,” confesses the 33-year-old, who’s taken a perch in the Coronation Street Bistro between scenes.

When the news finally broke, the Girls Aloud singer didn’t quite get the response she’d been expecting. “No one believed it. I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s true’,” exclaims Harding, who’s playing Joni, the glamorous wife of chef Robert (Tristan Gemmill), who recently turned up in Weatherfield keen to rekindle things with ex Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford).

“It’s going to be a bit of a shock for Joni. She’s moved up to help with the restaurant and he’s obviously still holding a torch for Tracy, which she’s not happy about,” reveals Harding, who recalls the baptism of fire she experienced on her first day on location, at a restaurant in Didsbury, Greater Manchester.

“I was thrown into the deep end, I really was. I started filming with Kate [Ford] on the first day, who’s actually the exact opposite [of her character] in real life. She’s lovely, but it was really nerve-wracking. There were paparazzi and it was a really long day with a lot to learn.”

That won’t be the first that audiences see of Joni, however. The character actually makes her debut on Thursday, July 23, when she turns up on the cobbles looking for Tracy, although the pair won’t come face-to-face until the following night’s episode.

It wouldn’t be Corrie if there wasn’t a dramatic slap, but “it was choreographed”, Harding points out. “Health and safety!”

If the slap doesn’t cause a sting, then the verbal insults just might.

“I do say something to Robert, like, ‘I was expecting something more, the way you go on about her’. She’s been made to feel like she’s not living up to Tracy’s standards, and then she meets her and goes, ‘Really? That’s what I’m against?'”

It was during a visit to the Street last year that the idea of Harding making an appearance came about.

“I said I was a really big fan of the show and I had a wonderful time getting pictures outside the Rovers and Roy’s Rolls,” recalls the singer, who’s appeared in Freefall and the St Trinian’s sequel. “I said something like, ‘You do cameos, don’t you?’ And they said, ‘You’ve done a bit of acting, haven’t you?'”

A short while later, producer Stuart Blackburn got in touch. The plan for now is for Harding to appear in a few episodes, but she’s not averse to popping up in the future. It’s just a matter of logistics.

“Obviously, I’d love to come back and do some bits and bobs, but I’ve got my music coming out so there’s loads of stuff going on,” notes Harding, who was born in Ascot but grew up in Stockport.

It’s now 13 years since she, along with Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Nadine Coyle, were plucked from obscurity on the TV talent show Popstars: The Rivals, and landed the number one spot in the charts as newly formed group Girls Aloud.

They went on to have 20 consecutive top 10 singles and six platinum-selling albums and, following a break, reunited for a tour in 2012 to mark their 10th anniversary.

Now Harding’s on the cusp of forging a solo music career, with her debut single Threads set for release in August.

“It’s really exciting, it’s quite a gritty song. I co-wrote it and was in a bit of a bad mood that day,” she reveals with a laugh. “It’s quite rock chick, which people might expect because I was always a bit of a rock chick in the band, but with a poppy edge to it.”

Harding, who as a child would spend time in the studio with her musician father, enjoys the “cathartic” experience of writing.

“I love that process of creating music and want a lot more say in what I’m doing, because I didn’t really get to do that back in the day with the girls.”

The Girls Aloud clan have all “been great, really supportive and congratulating me”, she says.

“I saw Kimberley and Cheryl a few weeks ago. But we’re all so busy, it’s impossible to get us all in one room at the moment. I was supposed to be there the other week when they were all together, I arranged it, but missed out because of work.”

Harding was recently on the small screen in Celebrity MasterChef, a show she now refers to as “ManicChef”.

“I think I cook better in my own kitchen, when you’ve got more time and you’re not under pressure with cameras in your face, and John Torode asking what you’re doing. You’re literally living off adrenaline on that show, and I was a nervous wreck by the end of it, because I was flustered the whole time.”

Harding was once known as a wild child and party girl, but after spending time at a rehab facility in 2011, reportedly for alcohol abuse, depression and sleeping pill addiction, she now says she likes nothing more than pottering around her home in Berkshire.

“I have five animals and lead the country life now. I’ve got a veggie patch and everything.”

Although “more content” these days, she also feels “out the loop on a lot of things”.

“I need to get my head around social media more,” she says, sighing – though she’s not sure she’ll be embracing it on the night of her Corrie debut.

“I know it’s going to be a mixed reaction, because people are going to be expecting high standards, and so as long as I’m prepared for that, that’s fine,” Harding notes.

“I hope I’ve done the soap justice, but there are going to be people who go, ‘Oh, she can’t act’. I’m just going to go, ‘It is what it is’.”

Source

If Tracy Barlow isn’t initiating trouble, it’s sure to follow her about, and if the return of her ex-husband Robert Preston (Tristan Gemmill) isn’t enough, it sounds as if his current wife Joanie will make life far from plain sailing.

I caught up with Sarah Harding who will be playing the part at ITV in Manchester to hear all about it.

A big fan of the show, Sarah is very aware of its heritage and declares herself honoured to have landed this four episode guest role. She is excited, overwhelmed and nervous all at the same time and is very anxious that she do the programme, its audience and her own fans justice.
“Corrie is my favourite soap” she reveals, and talks of her northern roots on her mother’s side, recalling “when I went down the ginnel the first time when I visited the set it really reminded me of going back to my Grandma’s house in Moston.”

It is true that she didn’t audition for the part, as it is a short guest role, and Corrie bosses were aware of her work. Sarah explains that the whole thing came about on a visit to the set. “I was running around getting photographs” she explains, “and we got chatting that day and it went from there”.

Sarah plays the wife of Robert Preston with whom she owns a restaurant in Manchester. Asked if it’s a shock for her to find he still harbours feelings for Tracy Barlow, Sarah tells us “I’ve moved with him to the restaurant and obviously he’s still holding a torch for Tracy which I’m not happy about whatsoever. So I play a woman on the edge. She does come across quite angry and feisty, but she’s also hurting and people have got to remember that.” Sarah explains how Joni has been living in Tracy’s shadow and reacts badly on first meeting Robert’s ex-wife.

“She’s not a wallflower” she continues, “he clearly likes a feisty woman and I think Tracy and Joanie in the same room leads to fireworks.” It doesn’t help that Joni’s first reaction on meeting Tracy is to remark “I was expecting something more the way you go on about her”, or that Robert has been rather economical with the truth when reigniting his flame with Tracy.

So what was her first day like? “I started filming with Kate [Ford] on the first day” she tells us, “and she’s the total opposite of her on screen character. Tristan [Gemmill] and Lisa [George] were there too. It was really nerve wracking, on location and there were paparazzi. It was really good fun. I had to give Tracy a choreographed slap. Even though we were screaming and shouting at one another, we were giggling like schoolkids when they cut.”

I asked Sarah about her first time filming on the street “I shot on the cobbles for the first time with Malcolm [Hebdon] which was fun” she told me. “I’m trying to bang down Tracy’s door and poor Norris gets in the firing line”.

Asked how she’s finding the experience, Sarah remarks, “It’s very fast paced. With films you’ve a lot longer to learn. It’s different with soaps, it’s not easy but it’s been a learning curve.”

Both Sarah and the programme makers appear to be conscious that both herself and Shane Ward may be on the receiving end of added criticism and scrutiny. So is she ready for the reaction when her episodes air? “I know it’s gonna be a mixed reaction as people are going to be expecting high standards. You’ve just gotta be prepared. It’s the nation’s biggest soap and it’s a massive honour to be on it, but there are gonna be people that say ‘she can’t act’. I am just gonna say, it is what it is”.

She adds, “I did train in acting when I was younger, which a lot of people don’t know.”

It also helps that Sarah doesn’t focus on the negative when it comes to social media. “I try and look on the positive side. I’ve done something I’ve really enjoyed doing, and had a blast doing it, I’ve met some really lovely people, and everyone on the cast has been so lovely.” Sarah found a particular gesture by the sound technicians to be very amusing; they kept playing Girls Aloud tunes in between her takes.

Asked if she’s planning anything special for when the episodes go out, Sarah reveals, “I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to watching anything back. I’m my own worst critic. I’ll probably watch it with my Mum. She’s my biggest fan.”

I asked Sarah if there was anyone she’d like to have had a scene with. “Beverley Callard or Ali King would’ve been cool” she told me, “but like I said I’ve really enjoyed just being here and feel honoured I’ve been asked to do it. I didn’t know it was actually going to happen. It only started with a fleeting gesture and it escalated and I’m so glad it did.”

So would she like it to be more permanent? “There’s loads of stuff going on for me, including my music, so obviously I’d love to come back, but we don’t know at the moment.” Sarah explains that it would all depend on her availability, the storyline and her music, but we’re told that while the story is self contained for this period, that’s not to say it couldn’t continue in the future.

In addition to talking about Celebrity Masterchef, what it’s like to rise to fame from a talent show, and her time with Girls Aloud, Sarah revealed how she has left London behind to live the country life; she even has a veggie patch. Her hands are also full with three French bulldogs and two Persian cats to look after. “When I’m in a busy place I find it so noisy as I’m so used to the peace at night now” she tells us.

It doesn’t sound like there’ll be much peace on the cobbles for the short time Joanie is around, and I look forward to seeing Sarah in action.

Source

Tracy Barlow may have finally met her match – in form of Robert Preston’s wife Joni!

Played by Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding, Joni is a force to be reckoned with and lets Tracy take the full force of it when she discovers that Robert has been seeing her.

The drama unfolds as Tracy remains suspicious of Robert following a hushed phone call he is seen making. As he cancels a date saying that he has to work late, Beth suggests to her friend that they surprise him at the restaurant.

Robert feigns delight when Tracy shows up, but he’s clearly on edge and it soon emerges why.

Enter Joni, who turns up and declares that she is married to Robert.
As Joni gives Tracy a taste of what she is so used to dishing out, she is left crushed as her newly rediscovered relationship with Robert crumbles under his deceit.

But how will Robert talk his way out of this one?

And is this just the start of a bitter battle between the two fearsome women?

Source
 

The former Girls Aloud singer arrives next week to play Joni – the secret wife of Tracy’s ex-husband Robert Preston.
Singer Sarah Harding is to make a big impact during her guest stint on Coronation Street when she comes to blows with Tracy Barlow.

“I got to slap Tracy during my first day on the show,” says the former Girls Aloud star. “Kate Ford, who plays Tracy, is the complete opposite of her character, so I’d be giggling every time they shouted cut because Kate is so lovely. And it’s not a real slap – it’s all choreographed to look nasty, but I didn’t actually touch her.”

Harding is to make her Corrie debut next week when she is revealed to be Robert Preston’s secret wife Joni. Her arrival looks set to scupper Tracy’s plans to reconcile with her ex-husband following his return on the day of Deirdre’s funeral.

“He is still holding a torch for Tracy, so I play a woman on the edge! But she is very vulnerable at the same time. She comes across as very angry and feisty, but if you’d caught your husband having an affair you would be wouldn’t you!”
Harding may be in the Street for a limited time only, but there’s no denying that she harbours the desire to reappear as Joni should the writers give her the opportunity.

“In a way, it’s not just about whether I would like to do it. It depends on whether the storyline would work for Joni to return and also my schedule as I am very busy with my music now across the summer,” she says. “Obviously, I would love to come back and do some more bits and bobs, but we will have to wait and see. Though it isn’t something that could happen in the near future.”

Having been in the public eye since 2002 when she earned a place with Girls Aloud on talent show Popstars: the Rivals, Harding is realistic about what the reaction will be when her episodes of Coronation Street are broadcast.

“I know it’ll be mixed because people are going to be expecting high standards. As long as I’m prepared for that, I’ll be OK.

“The producer Stuart Blackburn has said that both myself and Shayne Ward [coming in to play Aidan Connor] will be under a lot of scrutiny, so you have to be prepared for that. It’s one of the nation’s most-loved soaps and it’s been a massive honour to be on it. I just hope I’ve done it justice.

“I’m just looking on the positive side. I’ve done something I love doing and I’ve had a blast doing it. I’ve met some really lovely people too – northerners are so friendly. I’ve even started talking with the accent now, despite my character not actually being northern!”

Source

Former Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding has the cracker of all arrivals on Coronation Street, when she slaps Tracy Barlow in the face.

Sarah’s feisty character Joni Preston gives Tracy a slap for discovering that she has been having a fling with her husband Robert, played by former Casualty actor Tristan Gemmill.

It’s a complicated love triangle because Robert used to be married to hellraiser Tracy and was last seen in Weatherfield in 2003. The couple divorced after Robert discovered that Tracy was sleeping with his best friend.

Sarah, who struts onto the cobbles on Friday July 24, said: “I had to give her a good slap. I play a woman on the edge. She is angry and feisty but hurting.

“I’m aware I’m not living up to her standards but then I meet her and I’m like ‘really?’

“She is shocked when she sees them together.”

Stockport-raised Sarah, whose character works front of house at a restaurant run by her chef husband, is excited to be joining the soap.

She said: “It is a big institution here. I shot on the cobbles for the first time with Malcolm who plays Norris, trying to bang down Tracy’s door.

“It’s a massive honour and for me it has been a learning curve. This is one of my favourite soaps so it has been nerve-racking at times.”
Sarah, who will appear in four episodes as Joni, is bracing herself for the public reaction to her and former X Factor winner Shayne Ward from Clayton, who is arriving on the soap in August as Michelle Connor’s distant cousin Aidan Connor.

She said: “I know it’s going to be a mixed reaction. For me and Shayne we’re probably going to be under a lot if scrutiny.

“It’s one of my favourite soaps but there are going to be people who say ‘she can’t act’. But it us what it is. I try to look on the positive side.”

She added: “I know Shayne because we met on Popstars. We both auditioned and we all got the train from Stockport.

“I’m really proud of Shayne. He’s grown into a dashing young man and I think he’ll fit in really well. He’s a great little actor.”

It was announced on April 1 that Sarah would be joining the soap for a cameo role. This led some people to assume, much to her amusement, that it was an April Fools’ Day joke.

“I have been a big fan of the show for years, we got chatting and it started from there.

“I had to keep it silent for a while and I only told my mum and fella. I was so nervous but at the same time so honoured to have a part in this programme.

“When it was announced nobody believed it and I was like ‘yes it’s true’.”
Since leaving Girls Aloud Sarah, 33, has settled into country life in Buckinghamshire. But she has loved being back up north to film Corrie.

She said: “My grandma used to live in Moston and I used to make mud pies. It reminds me of going back to my grandma’s house.”

Sarah, who performs at the Manchester Pride festival next month, has impressed Street bosses with her cameo and has agreed to make a return to Weatherfield.

But for now she is concentrating on her return to her musical roots and is preparing to release her debut single as a solo artist Threads, out next month.

Source

How did you get the role of Coronation Street?

I was here last year doing a film with Good Morning Britain and everyone saw that I was a really big fan of the show, I was running around getting my photo taken on set. I asked them if they ever did cameo appearances and they knew I had done some acting. That was how it started and the producer Stuart Blackburn got in touch and we had a meeting and he said there was maybe a role for a guest appearance and a good few months later here I am!

Did you have to keep it quiet for a while?

I did yes, I only told my mum and my fella and swore them to secrecy. I was bursting to speak about it as I was so honoured to have a part in this programme so it was hard keeping it quiet. I was a bit overwhelmed with it but so excited at the same time. There is so much pressure too.

What sort of response did you have from your fans on Twitter?

They are so excited but I just hope I can do the Coronation Street fans justice as well. I want to be able to switch over and please those fans and not just my own fans.

It is a guest role at the moment but would you be interested in making it something more permanent?

It’s not just about whether I would like to, it depends on whether the storyline would work for Joni to return and also my schedule as I am very busy with my music now across the summer. Obviously I would love to come back and do some more bits and bobs but we will have to wait and see, it isn’t something that could happen in the near future.

In your short time on the show do you get to have slanging matches with Tracy?

Hahaha yes I did on the first day! I was filming with Kate who is the complete opposite of her character and also Lisa George and Tristan, it was very nerve wracking. It was a long day and there was a lot to learn, I had to give her a good slap. It was all choreographed to look nasty but I didn’t actually touch her!

Is it a shock for Joni that Robert has come back to Weatherfield to find Tracy?

Yes it is a bit of a shock but she knows deep down he hasn’t ever got over Tracy. Joni has moved up with him to his restaurant but obviously he is still holding a torch for Tracy so I play a woman on the edge! She is very vulnerable at the same time, she does come across as very angry and feisty but she is also hurting people have to remember that. If you catch your husband having an affair you would be wouldn’t you!

What has their marriage been like, has she been aware of him holding a torch for Tracy?

In the scenes she does say to him that she is not surprised because of the way he goes on about Tracy. She is aware she is not living up to his ex wife’s memory. Then she meets her and she is less than impressed. She knows she is in someone else’s shadow, she is living a lie and trying to believe that he will fall in love with her. But once he meets up with Tracy again it is evident that isn’t going to happen.

What does she do for a living?

They own the restaurant together, she is front of house. She is the face of the restaurant.

Does she give him an ultimatum?

She doesn’t want to play second fiddle, he clearly goes for a certain type of woman and having Tracy and Joni in the same room there are bound to be fireworks. It’s a natural reaction if you literally catch your husband with someone else.

Tell us about your first scene on the cobbles

I have been back and forth across a few weeks doing different scenes for the four episodes I am in. My first scene on the cobbles was with Malcolm Hebdon who plays Norris so that was fun. Joni is trying to bang down Tracy’s door and poor Norris gets in the firing line.

Do you feel comfortable with acting, you have done a few different things now?

Corrie is the sort of place that you are always learning, it is very fast paced there are a lot of people making this show. With films you have lots of read throughs and run throughs, it is very different with soaps so for me it has been a learning curve and it hasn’t been easy but I am so glad I have done it as it has been a massive honour too because it is one of my favourite soaps. it has been nerve wracking at times definitely!

Is music still very much your first love?

It is pretty equal at the moment between acting and singing, they are side by side. I love my music but I love to think I have other options and paths available to me. I did train in acting when I was younger which a lot of people don’t know and for me it is nice to have another option, it mixes things up a little bit and keeps it interesting. These days it is good to be a bit of an all rounder.

How did the other girls from the band react to the news you had the part?

They have been great, they tweeted me, they are really pleased for me. I caught up with Cheryl and Kimberley a few weeks ago but we are all so busy it is impossible to get us all in the same room together I was supposed to meet up with them all a few weeks ago, I had arranged that meeting but in the end i couldn’t go as I had to work!

Are you still super healthy, do you live a healthy lifestyle?

I am on the go all the time working and Iive outside of London these days, I have got five animals , I live the country life, I have a veggie patch and I have been growing my own beetroots! I live in Buckinghamshire.

Are the happiest you have been?

I am definitely more content, I am very far removed from London, I am quite far out of the loop on most things. I am trying to get my head round social media. It is quite nice to be away from all that though. It is better for the mind sometimes. When I am really busy I love to get away to the peace. I love listening to the owls at night – I am like an old woman these days!

Are you prepared for the reaction when your Corrie episodes air?

I know it is going to be a mixed reaction because people are going to be expecting high standards. As long as I am prepared for that i will be ok. Stuart was saying that for myself and Shayne we are probably going to be under a lot of criticism and scrutiny so you just have to be prepared for that, it is one of the nation’s most loved soaps and it has been a massive honour to be on it I just hope I have done it justice. I look on the positive side, I have done something I love doing and have had a blast doing it.

Are you planning anything special for your first episode?

I haven’t really had time to think about it. I am my own worst enemy, my own worst critic I am the same with the music. I will probably just watch my Corrie episodes with my mum she is my biggest fan.

Source