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Nick Tilsley returns to Corrie
19 June 2003
Nick Tilsley is reportedly set to return to Coronation Street to be reunited with hairdresser Maria Sutherland.

The character, played by Adam Rickitt, left the ITV1 soap in 1999. But he will briefly return next month from Canada to rekindle the romance. Nick made a brief return last year for the wedding of screen mum Gail - and within hours had slept with Maria, played by Samia Ghadie.

According to The Sun , his sister's boyfriend Todd - played by Bruno Langley - will also reveal he is attracted to Nick as he begins to question his sexuality.

Will Emma stay or will she go?
18 June 2003
The turmoil in the Watts family continues as Emma and Curly battle to save their marriage. Their relationship has been heading for the rocks ever since Emma, played by Angela Lonsdale, was implicated in framing Les Battersby, much to Curly's disgust.

Curly, played by Kevin Kennedy, is in a reflective mood as he heads for his 40th birthday. He is upset that he has been left to celebrate his birthday alone. But Emma has secretly arranged a thrash at the Rovers as a surprise. Curly is delighted to see the lengths she has gone to and it looks as though the couple are starting to get closer until Emma drops her birthday bombshell - she intends to move to Newcastle taking son Ben with her!

Things go from bad to worse when a row between the two of them results in Emma asking for a divorce. In an effort to patch things up Curly offers to leave Weatherfield behind and go to Newcastle with her and Ben, but is put out when Emma fails to contact him. He feels he has put the ball fairly and squarely in her court in his bid to give their marriage another chance but she still hasn't given him a reply.

Kevin and Martin manage to get the estranged couple talking and Curly and Emma have a heart to heart. Emma is pleased when, for the first time, Curly concedes that she might have been right in framing Les. It seems as though the couple are finally on the verge of sorting things out - can they save their marriage?

Shell shocked
17 June 2003 by Brian Roberts
THESE are the explosive scenes after Corrie loverat Peter Barlow walks up the aisle with a beautiful bride ... for the second time in a year.

The bigamist bookie leaves himself facing seven years in jail after marrying Rovers landlady Shelley Unwin, just months after saying "I do" to florist Lucy Richards. Coronation Street bosses filmed several smoke-screen scenes yesterday in a bid to keep the outcome of the long- running plot shrouded in mystery.

Unsuspecting bride Shelley - played by Sally Lindsay - is given a dream wedding day as she emerges from church to scorching sunshine and the congratulations of her neighbours. Lucy - actress Katy Carmichael - happens to be strolling past the church with her and Peter's newborn baby and tells a passer- by: "I'm just here to see the bride in her lovely dress." But at that moment she notices the groom in his top hat and tails is none other than her estranged husband Peter - played by Chris Gascoyne.

The shocked young mum had been convinced his relationship with Shelley was over and that his other wedding plans were cancelled before he tied the knot with her. It is there that soap fans will be left guessing.

In one version Lucy is too stunned to act and the couple leave her festering while they go on honeymoon. But other tug-of-love scenes spied yesterday show Shelley's big day wrecked as Lucy has a furious showdown with cheat Peter. After the blistering argument, devastated Shelley runs off in floods of tears. For months she has remained blissfully unaware of the extent of her hubby-to-be's deception. She only knows of a casual fling with an unknown woman - which her mum Bev manages to prise from Peter's best man, Ciaron McCarthy - but writes it off as a moment of madness. But she knows nothing about Lucy, their marriage or their child.

Last night a Street insider said: "This is a huge storyline that has been brewing for several months. The wedding promises to have plenty of twists and turns. "The cast had a fabulous day filming the scenes and we were fortunate that the weather was gorgeous and sunny." Street regulars Ken Barlow - played by Bill Roache - Fred Elliot (John Savident), Deirdre Rachid (Anne Kirkbride), Karen Macdonald (Suranne Jones) and Maria Sutherland (Samia Ghadie) are all present at the cliffhanger wedding.

Shelley looks the part in a gold and ivory detailed basque-style dress and elegant gold tiara. Her bridesmaids - looking stunning in gold and white - are corner shop girl Sunita (Shobna Gulati) and Street minx Tracey Preston, Peter's scheming stepsister. Former florist's assistant Tracey is the only character who knows the full extent of Peter's betrayal, having been present at both weddings, but has amazingly managed to keep quiet.

Street's Curly to be a father again
17 June 2003
Coronation Street star Kevin Kennedy is "absolutely delighted" after learning he is to be a father for the second time.

The actor, who is set to leave the soap later this year after 21 years as Curly Watts, announced that his wife Clare was expecting their baby in the New Year. Kennedy, 41, said: "It is wonderful news. We are absolutely delighted."

It will be the couple's first child since they married seven years ago. Kennedy has a 16-year-old son, Ryan, from his first marriage.

A spokeswoman for Coronation Street said today that everyone at the show was "thrilled" for them. "We're all very pleased for them and wish them all the best. We know it is something they both wanted."

From babysitter to babe!
15 June 2003
Julia Howarth simply screams with joy. "I can't believe it! I feel like a million dollars," yells the 23-year-old actress. "I have never looked this good in my life. I feel like I have just stepped out of a Hollywood set!"

The Burnley-born Coronation Street star is one of the latest recruits to Weatherfield, playing Joshua's nanny who ends up doing more than babysitting for dad Ashley. But the character - Claire Casey - is not exactly glamorous, so Julia's delighted with the star treatment we've given her today. "I don't dress, or make myself up anything like my character Claire. I'm a much funkier dresser and I wear loads more make-up than she does. "I usually dash home after filming and can't wait to put some lippy and mascara on," she says.

Though Julia has shot to what looks like overnight fame in Corrie, she has been performing since she was 14, appearing in dramas like The Grand, Peak Practice and Merseybeat, as Jenny Oulton. "That character, Jenny, was miles away from my new persona, Claire. She did drugs and slept around and was a really bad girl," she says.

But Julia admits she was still not fully prepared for the huge impact that appearing on Britain's most famous soap would bring. "Honestly, I'm being treated like royalty. I've done some acting work that I'm really proud of, but nobody blinked an eyelid. "But after I first appeared on Corrie, the phone didn't stop ringing with people saying well done! You'd have thought I'd won the Lottery or something."

Julia loves the glamorous look we gave her for this makeover, and says she's a fashion addict herself - thanks to her mum. "I get most of my dress sense from my mum, Valerie. I really love taking her shopping, because she always gives me an honest answer when I'm trying something on. "She actually helped me pick my outfit for my first audition for Coronation Street. It was a funky top and jeans with a studded belt. But I realised as I read the script that I was dressed nothing like the character of Claire. So when I got a second audition I went for a sensible top and looked much more the part." And the first thing she did when Julia landed her plum role was treat Mum to a white gold bracelet. "Mum's very elegant and it looks great on her."

Camilla's Corrie fix hits Charles
15 June 2003 by Mike Merritt
CAMILLA Parker Bowles has got Prince Charles hooked on her favourite soap opera - Coronation Street.

She has been a long-time lover of the Manchester-based soap. But royal insiders say the prince is now sharing the sofa as she laps up the latest instalment. Camilla - who has been with Prince Charles during his stay in Scotland this week - is fanatical about the long-running soap, which is also said to be a favourite of the Queen. The couple are about to move into Clarence House, the Queen Mother's old London home, after a revamp that has involved £4.5million of public money.

Leading royal author Ingrid Seward said: "Camilla likes flopping in front of the telly. Charles does not like television, so I can't imagine he'd even watched a soap before. "But he is devoted to Camilla and puts up with it." Another insider said Charles had accepted his lover's passion for the drama of the Street. He said: "It is a bit ironic. Camilla loves Coronation Street and so does the Queen. Things have improved between them and Camilla is seen as `one of the family' in all but name. "So maybe she and Her Majesty talk about the last episode. Who knows?"

The prince has had a walk-on role in the soap. In December 2000, he appeared to celebrate the Street's 40th anniversary. He filmed a short scene with actress Sue Nicholls, who plays councillor Audrey Roberts during an "official visit" to Weatherfield. And racy barmaid Liz McDonald told him: "Originally, I ran away with a younger man, so you had better watch out - there's always room for an older one."

Eileen Grimshaw is Corrie's new pin-up
8 June 2003
AND nobody is more surprised than actress SUE CLEAVER.

She says: "When Eileen first joined she was a battle-axe. But she's become attractive to men because of her soft centre. Some letters I get are quite saucy."

Corrie star often mistaken as real-life policewoman
REAL-LIFE policemen often mistake Corrie star ANGELA LONSDALE for a proper copper.

Angela, who plays corrupt WPC Emma Watts, says: ""They come over and say 'Look, I know the face, but what nick was it?' I always say Weatherfield. They walk away, do four paces and then ask 'Where's Weatherfield?' "

Tipsy star's dud money
SKINT Coronation Street mum Eileen Grimshaw went on a real-life spree with DUD money.

Eileen - actress Sue Cleaver - was given fake notes for her son's toy cash till after making a film with Harry Enfield about counterfeit cash. But she accidentally pulled the wad out of her handbag to buy champagne on a night out with pals at a club. After realising her mistake, hungover Sue rang the club to confess and paid her bill. "I was terrified - I feared I'd go to jail," she said.

Hello blossom!
BLOOMING 'eck! Ex-florist Tracy Barlow is cultivating a new look - with a rose tattoo on her bottom!

The petals were clearly visible as Tracy - stunning KATE FORD, 25 - filmed hear the Granada studios. Of course, the Corrie temptress is no stranger to controversy. Since arriving back on the Street, she has bedded her mum's ex Dev - and set her sights on her GRAN'S "millionaire" fancy man Wally Bannister. Now Steve McDonald is to get the Tracy treatment. She's certainly no wallflower...

TV Chris to play a pervert
13 June 2003 by Nicola Methven
ACTOR Chris Bisson is to star as a paedophile in a series about a dysfunctional family.

Bisson, a contestant on I'm a Celebrity....Get Me Out of Here!, plays a married father-of-two who has an affair with a boy of 15. It is the first big role for Bisson, 28, since he quit his role as Coronation Street taxi driver Vikram Desai last summer.

The eight-part Channel 4 series, called Shameless, is the work of State of Play writer Paul Abbott. It follows the lives of the Gallagher family on a Manchester estate. Ian Gallagher is actively gay and has a relationship with Bisson's character Kash, a Muslim who runs a mini-mart. A source said: "Despite the controversy surrounding this particular storyline, the series promises to be one of the funniest on TV for years." The Gallaghers are headed by dad Frank, an alcoholic bully. Mum has run off and the five children are being brought up by big sister Fiona, 21.

Not so racey Tracy
12 June 2003
CORRIE star Kate Ford looks like she's taking fashion tips from a Street legend of the past. Kate, who plays gold-digger Tracy Barlow, looked a bit like old star Ena Sharples, right, when she was spotted wearing a hairnet on the set of the soap yesterday. Maybe Tracy's trying to make herself look older to snare another rich pensioner now her fling with conman Wally is over.

Tracy comes a cropper
12 June 2003
Coronations Street sex kitten, Tracy Preston, played by gorgeous Kate Ford, really gets the cold shoulder this week after a drink-fuelled bet that goes disastrously wrong.

Never one to shirk a challenge, especially when it comes to men, unscrupulous Tracy enters into a drunken wager with barmaid Shelley Unwin's bossy mum, Bev. The rather unlikely subject of the bet turns out to be wimpy cafe boss, Roy Cropper, played by David Neilson, who Tracy has bet she can bed with a mere flutter of her eyelashes and a flash of her self-proclaimed considerable assets.

It all starts when tearaway Tracy corners an unsuspecting Roy in the Rovers as he is memorising the Highway Code for his forthcoming driving test. With her hand on his knee, Tracy purrs that if she got the opportunity to get him alone in a car she'd love things to get hot and steamy between them. Later she offers her services as a driving instructor so that he can get some real hands-on experience - of her!

Sparks really fly when Tracy 'loses' her earring in the Rovers and when Roy gallantly finds it for her she jumps at the chance to show her gratitude by a giving him a huge kiss and forcing him to accept a thank you drink. Horrified Hayley, who has already been alerted to Tracy's hot pursuit of her beloved husband Roy, bursts into the Rovers to find the pair huddled in a corner together. Too wrapped up in her callous prank to notice, Tracey doesn't see Hayley storm to the bar and demand an ice bucket under the pretence of needing to cool down her 'warm' pineapple juice.

Of course, the contents of the bucket end up on a very shocked Tracy's head as Hayley rants at the top of her voice that Tracy is just jealous of her and Roy's undying love for one another. Dripping wet and humiliated it seems that scheming Tracey finally gets caught out - until the next time.

Curly, this is your strife
11 June 2003 by Brian Roberts
SACKED Coronation Street star Kevin Kennedy is to be given one of the most memorable screen send-offs ever. His character Curly Watts will bow out with an emotional This Is Your Life-style knees-up in the Rovers.

Bosses believe the scenes will soften the blow for 41-year-old Kevin, who admitted he was stunned last month at being axed after 20 years in the soap. He is now said to be "chuffed to bits" his key appearances will be remembered in such a sensitive way.

Early next month viewers will see Curly walk in on a surprise 40th birthday party for him in the pub. The Rovers will be packed with his old friends, including adopted mum and dad Jack and Vera Duckworth (Bill Tarmey and Liz Dawn), who will all take turns to take Curly on a trip down Memory Lane.

A source said: "Viewers, particularly the older ones, will love it. They'll be reminded of all the good times Curly's had, and some of the bad times. He's been through an enormous amount over the years. It will be a touching and memorable tribute to Curly and Kevin was delighted at the plans." Curly will be reminded of the houses he has lived in on the street, who he shared them with and his many romances.

His character will leave Weatherfield for Newcastle with police officer wife Emma (Angela Lonsdale) as she joins a new force.

Temperatures soar sky-high for TV's Naomi
10 June 2003
CURVY Naomi Ryan looks every inch the sexy star as she turns up at a glitzy film premiere.

The actress, who played a sex-mad air stewardess in TV's Mile High, was at a London cinema to see 2 Fast 2 Furious last night.

The 24-year-old, who also had a role as knicker factory girl Bobbi Lewis in Coronation Street, has been courted by a string of Hollywood stars, including Kevin Spacey. And no wonder ...

Queen Vic's top TV pub
10 June 2003
TELEVISION viewers have voted the Queen Vic the best screen pub. The Vic's Alfie Moon, played by Shane Richie, above, was named the greatest TV barman.

Coronation Street's Bet Lynch, actress Julie Goodyear, was voted best barmaid in the Blackthorn Cider survey.

Only Fools and Horses star Del Boy Trotter, played by David Jason, was the TV character most people would like to meet in their local.

Sunita's Double Trouble
9 June 2003

Firstly, the love of her life for as long as we can all remember, Dev Alahan, stuns her with a shock marriage proposal and the promise that he has changed his womanising ways for good on his return from a so called 'spiritual' trip to India. However, after suffering such painful rejection last Christmas when Sunita, played by Shobna Gulati, confessed her undying love to Dev and he told her in no uncertain terms that there was no chance for them, Sunita is more than a little wary of his advances - and rightly so given his shady past! Hopeless romantic Sunita demands that Dev prove his newly-found love for her once and for all and she adopts a surprisingly assertive attitude when she spurns his heartfelt offer of a romantic break for two. Like any red-blooded male, Dev loves Sunita's new play-hard-to-get approach and it merely serves to encourage him to chase her harder for a definite answer to his proposal as he wines and dines her to within an inch of her life.

As is this isn't enough for a rather confused Sunita to deal with, at the very moment that Dev goes down on one knee in a second attempt to win her hand, there is an ominous knock at the front door. Jaws drop in amazement as her old-flame, Ciaran McCarthy, saunters in, oblivious to the deadly-serious romantic scene that he has just accidentally interrupted. Sunita really fell for sexy Irish charmer Ciaran a couple of months ago but she was convinced that she'd lost him for good when he left the Street - the timing of his kiss-and-make up return is incredible and Sunita is now faced with two suitors vying for her hand which makes a welcome change!

As love rivals Ciaran and Dev battle it out for their dream woman Sunita can finally sit back and make the choice in her own time. May the best man win!

Tracy Shaw on claims over anorexia and marriage
9 June 2003 by Alexandra Williams
TRACY SHAW admitted last night: "I need help." The 29-year-old actress is to see an £80 an hour psychiatrist to help her conquer her loneliness and depression.

The former Coronation Street star told the Daily Mirror: "I'm just totally stressed out. "I have booked in to see a psychiatrist this week. She is the same one who helped me when I was anorexic eight years ago."

Tracy, flew home from holiday in Spain after her dad Karl spoke of his fears about her drinking. He said: "She's losing touch with reality. If she carries on this way it will kill her." Tracy hit back: "I'm not anorexic and I'm not a big drinker." She said she was "devastated" at claims that husband Robert Ashworth, 31, had a three-month affair with assistant Samantha Crothers. Tracy, who was not wearing her engagement or wedding rings, said: "I love him to bits." But she added: "I'm just not sure what the future holds."

The actress, who today begins her week of private counselling with a woman psychiatrist, said: "I need to speak to someone - but I have no friends because everyone I think is a friend spills the beans on me." She spoke out after her dad Karl revealed his fears about her drinking, saying: "She's losing touch with reality. If she carries on this way it will kill her." And our sister paper the Sunday Mirror revealed that her TV producer husband Robert Ashworth struck up a relationship with personal assistant Samantha Crothers when the couple's marriage ran into trouble earlier this year.

Former Coronation Street star Tracy, 29, flew back from a holiday with friends in Spain minus her wedding and engagement rings - and days after being pictured with bruises on her legs. She said of the allegations: "I've wept about them. I have been really stressed and a wreck. "I have booked in to see a psychiatrist this week. She is the same one who helped me when I was anorexic eight years ago. I am going to live in her house for a week. I need to sort myself out. "I am not a normal person who can just go and talk to Joe Bloggs down the street. I need someone who's properly trained. This woman has got me through a lot. She's very expensive but I need her to keep me sane because my life is not as perfect as some people might think."

Dad Karl, 49, said earlier: "She's living on three bottles of wine and a packet of crisps a day. I'm worried that if my daughter carries on drinking and living this way it will kill her." But friends on holiday with Tracy in Marbella said the claims were "absolute rubbish". And Tracy said: "I'm not anorexic and I'm not a big drinker."

Tracy said she was "devastated" by the allegations that husband Robert, 31, had a three-month affair with Samantha. South African born Samantha, 28, has said the relationship fizzled out after three months because he was so desperate to save his marriage. Tracy said he called her from the US, where he is working, a few days before the story broke. She said: "He was in floods of tears saying he wanted to see me. I thought he really wanted me back but little did I know that he knew the story was about to come out. "I spoke to him today and asked him if he could deny it. He said no. I was very calm. I thought, 'Come on Tracy, you can sort this out'." Robert promised her he had not slept with Samantha and that he was desperate to speak to Tracy "face to face".

Tracy said she was not prepared to split from him but her work commitments mean she is away from home for months. She revealed that they have not had a physical relationship "for months and months" but stressed: "I love him to bits. He's beautiful and gorgeous. He's lovely. "But I never thought he would have an affair. "It's always the same story. Every man cheats on me - they always do. "I'm an actress and I can't stay in one place. I'm not prepared to give it all up but realise that if I want kids then I'll have to one day. "Robert's desperate for them. I had tests after my anorexia to see if I could have kids and I'm fine. We did try as soon as we got married but with no luck."

The couple, who live in Manchester, are due to meet this week. Their two-year marriage has been on the rocks virtually from the start. They went to see her psychiatrist last year but it did not help their problems. A friend said: "It is a very difficult time for both of them. There is still a chance that they could get back together."

Tracy headed for the sun after going on tour in stage play The Blue Room, in which she appeared naked with co-star Jason Connery. She said her bruised legs - revealed in publicity pictures of her in skimpy shorts for Kwik Save supermarket - were really caused by her demanding role. "Everyone made a fuss about the bruises but they were the result of being thrown about the stage. "It's a very physical play and Jason's a big guy. It's all about sex.

She said Robert resented her role and became jealous so they stopped talking for a few weeks. She last saw him two weeks ago when she went home to get some holiday clothes. She described the encounter as "just amicable". They have not spent any time together since Christmas when they holidayed in Egypt. She said her engagement and wedding rings were in the safe at home because they were too valuable to take to Spain.

Tracy also hit back at dad Karl. She said: "I am a daddy's girl but it's all going pear shaped at the moment. "I am spending a lot of time with my mum. He does love me and care about me but lately I haven't spoken to him much. "If he was genuinely concerned about me he would tell me straight to my face, not run off to the papers. "I have been drinking a bit too much but I can sort that out. "This holiday has been really good for me - very chilled. Just videos and dinners, no partying. And as for my eating, well ask anyone I saw in Spain and they'll tell you I ate loads and loads."

Friend Zara Reid, who chauffeured Tracy around Malaga, said: "She eats what I leave as well as her own meal. "Tracy eats more than anyone else. If I leave any food after an evening meal Tracy is at it like a wolf. She's fine. "She weighs more than me and we are the same height - 5ft 10ins."

Tracy joined Coronation Street when she was 22 and left after seven years when her character Maxine was killed off. When she was 21 she claims anorexia caused her to be admitted to a mental hospital. She said: "Counselling helped me get through and it helped me again when I was coping with press interest in my private life while I was in the Street. "The counselling has made me much more grown up and stronger. "I went to a great counsellor, two hours a day. I had to make myself. It was tough. I'd be crying every time. But slowly, over a year, it changed. I'd go in feeling depressed and come out feeling strong. "Gradually she helped me learn to eat. Hand on heart, she saved my life. Without counselling, I would have been anorexic for the rest of my life." Because of her battle she founded the Tracy Shaw Foundation to try to help sufferers battle the disease.

Street's date rape shock
8 June 2003
CORONATION Street is to feature a controversial date-rape plot as its latest hard- hitting storyline.

The shocking storyline unfolds at Shelley Unwin's (Sally Lindsay) hen night. The blonde barmaid attracts the attention of a sleazebag who attempts to spike her drink with Rohypnol. The Street will also have its first gay character after student Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley) struggles with his sexuality.

Tracy's killing herself
8 June 2003 by Billy Paterson
TROUBLED TV star Tracy Shaw is drinking herself into oblivion and surviving on a diet of crisps, says her worried dad.

Karl Shaw admitted last night he fears that Tracy, 29, is on a downward spiral that will lead to the return of the anorexia she suffered as a teenager. He is worried that her bingeing lifestyle will kill the glamorous star, who played hairdresser Maxine Peacock in Coronation Street. Karl said: "She's living on three bottles of wine a day and a pack of Walker's crisps. "She's been drinking more excessively and the problem with Tracy is that this induces a state where she losses touch with reality. "I'm worried that if she carries on living her life this way it will kill her."

According to Karl, 48, when he saw Tracy recently he was horrified by her appearance. He said: "She looks like she's aged 15 years. "I know she will claim she's absolutely fine but it is an attempt to deflect attention from the truth. She's in denial. "When Tracy first had anorexia she went down to about five or six stone. "She's not there yet but she's losing weight and what concerns me is she now has a combination of the drink and the eating disorder. "The worrying thing is that she is drinking to get through the day or to get through some crisis in her life and there have been enough of those in the past few months."

Earlier this year, Tracy's marriage to TV producer Robert Ashworth, 31, broke up. But Karl has also caused emotional upheaval for the blonde beauty. In 1998, Tracy was devastated when her mum Ann walked out of the family home after discovering that Karl had fathered a secret child by his mistress.

Tracy left Coronation Street earlier this year when Maxine Peacock was murdered by serial killer Richard Hillman. She then reinvented herself as a stage actress starring in the play The Blue Room in which she appeared nude. But signs that all was not well with Tracy were apparent when she was photographed last week looking dishevelled and bruised.

Karl believes the answer to his daughter's troubles lies in the rekindling of her marriage. He said: "There are a few clear things for Tracy to sort out. "She needs to start counselling for her anorexia and then keep it up. "She needs to sort her marriage out with Rob - one way or another. "They were trying for children but Tracy needs to find out if that's medically possible with her history of anorexia."

In April it was reported that after she had been drinking Tracy launched a foul- mouthed tirade on her husband and kicked and spat at him. But if a reconciliation with Robert is to be the answer to Tracy's troubles, then it may not be out of the question. According to Samantha Crothers, 25, who claims to have had a three-month relationship with Ashworth, he dumped her because he is still in love with Tracy.

It breaks my heart, but he loves Tracy
8 June 2003 by Suzanne Kerins And James Weatherup
TRACY SHAW'S devastated husband had a romance with a blonde to get over his marriage heartache.

TV producer Robert Ashworth struck up a relationship with personal assistant Samantha Crothers after his marriage ran into trouble earlier this year. But Samantha claimed that he dumped her after just three months because he was still in love with former Coronation Street actress Tracy. South African-born Samantha, 25, who last spoke to Robert over a week ago, revealed how he had broken her heart. She told how she was convinced that Robert would soon be reconciled with his wife. "Robert and I got very, very close and I cared for him deeply," she said. "I had just come out of a relationship myself and I could understand where Robert was coming from. "He was in a relationship where things were just not working out. I could see Robert's side completely."

Robert, 31, sent Samantha text messages and emails after meeting her at a party shortly after it became public that his marriage was on the rocks. The party was thrown by media director Steve Cooper, who is close friends with Robert and Tracy. Tracy, 29, did not go to the party at Cooper's house in Chorlton, Manchester, in February. At the time, the couple's marriage was under strain as she spent weeks away from home starring in the raunchy stage play, The Blue Room.

Samantha was just getting over the break-up of a relationship with an executive at Everton Football Club. Talking of how romance blossomed, a friend of Samantha's said: "They even discussed moving in together. Robert was very keen on Sam. He told her he loved her." Samantha, who works for a graphic design company in Manchester, said Tracy and Robert were just "two human beings who were very lost and confused". Their relationship fizzled out when Robert said he wanted to try to patch up his marriage. The friend said: "They went their separate ways three weeks ago and Samantha was very upset."

Samantha said: "Robert has just cut me out completely. It's been a very stressful time for me over the past three weeks. Things have taken a turn with our relationship. I haven't heard from him. "He sent me an email over a week ago but I've not heard from him since. Obviously he's not telling me what's going on. So I'm not involved as he doesn't see me as important in the whole scheme of things."

Last month Tracy was reported to have moved her belongings from the couple's home in Prestwich, Manchester, and it seemed the marriage was over. It was believed Tracy and Robert were trying to mend their relationship. A close friend of the couple said: "There is still dialogue going on between Robert and Tracy. Tracy has been speaking to Robert on the phone and they are trying to work through their problems. There is still a chance that they can make a go of it. "There is light at the end of the tunnel and they want to try and get their love back again." Samantha said: "I suspect they are getting back together because I haven't heard from Robert."

Our revelations about their marriage come just 10 days after the actress was pictured looking gaunt and bruised in a publicity shot. She was seen with marks on her legs as she was snapped in a trolley at a Kwik Save store in Barking, Essex. Friends feared for the former anorexic's health after seeing the worrying photos splashed across newspapers. Tracy's agent Peter Charlesworth ruled out spiteful rumours that Robert may have caused the bruises. "If anybody tried to beat up anybody in that marriage, it would be Tracy beating up Robert," he joked. "She's very tough."

Speculation has mounted that Tracy and Robert - whose glitzy wedding in 2001 was featured in OK! magazine - have split up. Last month Tracy, who quit her £95,000-a-year soap role as hairdresser Maxine in a row over money last September, hit out at her husband, saying: "Robert hasn't worked for months. "All he does is sit around smoking the occasional spliff. I want him to be the man I married."

And the Sunday Mirror revealed that Tracy was being helped through her marriage troubles by handsome computer expert Ashley Poundall, 30. The pair were seen enjoying an intimate meal after Tracy spent a week performing her sexy role in The Blue Room at London's Richmond Theatre. Friends said Tracy - voted sexiest woman on TV on several occasions - dashed off stage to share giggly phone calls with Ashley.

Tracy's stage role, in which she stripped naked, was blamed for putting a strain on the marriage. In March, eight weeks into the play, the couple removed their wedding rings. Tracy's former friend Clare McGlinn, who played doctor's wife Charlie Ramsden in Coronation Street, voiced her fears about the marriage after she witnessed one blazing row between the couple. She said Tracy was drinking too much and constantly worried that her husband was cheating on her when they were apart. In April, Claire claimed her friend acted like an "uncaged animal" as she drunkenly attacked Robert. Clare, 34, said: "I saw it all. She even spat in his face. He was nearly in tears. What she called him was disgusting. I told him, 'You're a battered husband'."

Earlier rows included a mid-air bust-up as the couple returned from a holiday in January last year. Tracy was seen slapping Robert six or seven times in the face. The actress, a former cocaine user, blamed champagne she had been drinking and her attempts to give up smoking. Last night Robert was working in Los Angeles and Tracy was on holiday in Puerto Banus in Spain. Neither were available for comment. When the Sunday Mirror approached Robert earlier and asked him about his romance with Sam, he replied: "Sam who?" He then admitted he knew her but insisted it was not a personal relationship. He added: "It's rubbish mate."

Corrie me daddy
8 June 2003
CORONATION Street star Sean Wilson makes sure daughter Maisie is looking head and shoulders above the rest. Sean, who plays male nurse Martin Platt, gave his little girl a taste of the high life during a trip out to the shops.

The happy family scene in Manchester is streets away from Sean's latest plotline - he's been dubbed the dirty old man of Weatherfield for having a fling with teenage tearaway Katy Nelson. In real life, 38-year-old Sean is happily married to Gaynor and is a loving dad to Maisie, three, and five-year-old Callum. But the talented actor can obviously Corrie off any role... and he's more than delighted to shoulder all his family responsibilities.

Booth to star in EastEnders
8 June 2003
TONY BLAIR'S father-in-law is to star in EastEnders as a boozy tramp who befriends Alfie Moon (Shane Richie). Tony Booth, 69, is most famous as Alf Garnett's "Scouse Git" son-in-law in the sitcom Till Death Do Us Part.

Booth was "delighted" last night at winning the minor role - his first TV part in years.

The former alcoholic left Cherie's mother when Cherie was nine. He later wed Coronation Street's Pat Phoenix.

Tina talks men
8 June 2003
She's not yet out of her teens, but Tina O'Brien has seen a lot of life - on the TV screen at least. As Coronation Street's Sarah Platt, she's become a schoolgirl mum, met an internet pervert, recovered from a joy-ride induced coma and escaped the murderous clutches of her evil stepfather. And this week there's no let-up for her character, as she dumps screen boyfriend Todd Grimshaw because of fears that she and daughter Bethany will hold him back when he starts student life at Oxford University.

It will be the beginning of an emotional roller-coaster for Sarah and Todd - and the scenes will have an extra intensity because her on-screen love Todd is played by real-life boyfriend Bruno Langley. The couple have been together for two years, but Tina, 19, prefers to remain rather tight-lipped about their relationship. "It's going fine with Bruno," she says. "We get on really well, but I don't really want to talk about it because we work together. If we started talking openly about our relationship it would end up like part of the job. At the end of the day we go home and not many people know about us."

One thing Tina does want to set straight, though, is the persistent rumour that they live together. "We don't," she states simply. "That is a big thing to say about a couple." In fact, Tina has bought a house conveniently near to the Granada TV Studios in Manchester and Bruno, 20, shares a flat nearby with Ryan Thomas, 18, who plays his screen brother, Jason.

Although Tina won't give much away about Bruno, she does admit she can't help fancying bad boys. "I'm in love with Colin Farrell," she says with a huge sigh. "He's gorgeous because he's a bad boy. It's all about his attitude - he looks like he doesn't give a damn about anything. "In interviews he's always sitting back and looking really cheeky and - I don't know why, because I know he's the wrong type of man - but that's exactly what draws me towards him."

So what would she say to the Phone Booth star if she met him on the red carpet? "I probably wouldn't even say anything, I couldn't say anything. I wouldn't flirt with him because I can't flirt with guys that I like," she says. "I just can't speak - I'm terrible."

But the Irish charmer isn't the first film star who's caught Tina's eye. Titanic star Leonardo DiCaprio was an early influence on her acting career. "Leonardo was my first crush when I was about 12. I used to dream that one day I would be in a film with him. I think your first major famous crush stays with you through life."

She may joke about her favourite film hunks, but Tina has been quite a hit with the male population, too. In fact she was voted in the top five Soap's All-Time Sexiest Babes in a People readers' poll, joining the likes of Martine McCutcheon and Holly Valance. But the diminutive actress says: "It's very flattering that people think that I look nice. But then it's amazing what make-up, hair-styling and good lighting can do!" Ever since she appeared on a calendar for the lads' magazine Loaded, Tina has had plenty of attention, but swears that fans would be disappointed with her in the flesh. "Recently I was shopping when a guy came up clutching his Loaded calendar and asked me to sign it," she reveals. "I really blushed because on the picture I looked so nice, while that day my hair was greasy and I had no make-up on. I thought, `Oh my God - he's never going to believe anything he sees in a magazine again'," she laughs. "I really enjoyed posing for the calendar, but I don't feel that I'm a naturally sexy person - I only feel sexy when I'm wearing those sort of clothes, not when I'm in my normal combat pants."

Her fresh-faced schoolgirl beauty has also attracted some slightly stranger attention. Some fans have even taken to sending her unusual gifts to show their appreciation - and offering to go on dates with her. "One bloke sent me a CD of whale and dolphin music because he'd read that I was having trouble sleeping. I thought that was quite sweet so I replied to say thank you and sent him a signed photo. "But someone else sent me a letter saying `meet me at two o'clock on Saturday, I'll leave my front door open'. Needless to say, I never wrote back to him! But on the whole people send me really nice letters."

At other times she's received bunches of roses from admirers, and one besotted fan even rushed out of a hairdressing salon - still in his plastic gown and rubber highlighting cap - to get her autograph. It's all a long way from her school days in the Hulme area of Manchester where she grew up. And her success on Corrie has put some distance between Tina and some of her school friends. "I can count on one hand the people I still see from school. People's lives just go in different directions and unless you go to college and university together you really don't keep in contact."

She admits that she would have liked to take her A-levels before taking the Coronation Street role, which came along when she was just 16. But, according to Tina, finally sitting those exams is just one of her plans for the future. "There are loads of things I want to do, including going travelling and maybe trying some dangerous sports, like skydiving. But that would have to wait until I left the show and I'm quite happy here at the moment. I get great story lines and I'm really enjoying myself."

Corrie's Naomi 'to star in British Sex and The City'
5 June 2003
Former Coronation Street actress Naomi Ryan is reported to have landed a part in the British version of Sex And The City. Ryan, who shot to fame as factory girl Bobbi Lewis in the ITV soap, will play a struggling English soap actress who desperately wants to make it big in Hollywood. She starts filming the show, Denial, with Rachel Hunter, later this month.

Their co-stars include Frances Barber and Emily Lloyd as party queen Stella and 'ducker and diver' Jerry. Hunter plays a socialite called Georgia.

TV networks are already involved in a bidding war to sign the series, says The Sun .

Suranne hits right notes
4 June 2003
Coronation Street's Suranne Jones hit all the right notes at her screen-lover's leaving do. Now she is being given the chance to shine in a celebrity special of Stars In Their Eyes.

Suranne, who plays Karen McDonald, belted out a stunning version of the Carly Simon classic Nobody Does it Better at Jonathan Wrather's James Bond-themed farewell bash. Jonathan, whose character Joe Carter is being axed from the soap, was astounded by Suranne's powerful performance.

The Daily Star reports that Suranne has been asked to step in at the last minute to the Stars In Their Eyes special after fellow Corrie star Tina O'Brien, who plays Sarah-Louise Platt, was forced to pull out. Suranne will tell host Matthew Kelly: "Tonight Matthew I am going to be Catherine Zeta-Jones." She'll sing All That Jazz from the musical Chicago.

Corrie star: My brave decision to come out
4 June 2003 by Richard Barber
WHEN her autobiography was published at the end of last year, Amanda Barrie was terrified of the reaction her startling revelations might provoke. She knew the secret that had been hanging over her 15-year career as Alma Halliwell in Coronation Street would finally be out in the open.

But she needn't have worried. The bulging postbag which followed the publication of Life's Not A Rehearsal didn't contain one letter of criticism. Instead, her many admirers were full of praise for the bravery she showed in admitting she is more attracted to women than men. "The truth is," she says, "I'd been living a lie. And it became a kind of insult to keep pretending I was something I wasn't. That's why I used to give so few interviews. I didn't want to keep adding to the lies."

And now she no longer has to hide behind a facade, Amanda, who's currently starring in the prison drama Bad Girls, has been able to reveal that she's fallen in love. "She's 67 - although she looks years younger - so it's a bonus at my age," she says of her partner.

The soap star was in torment for many years about telling the world the true nature of her sexuality. "Part of the reason was because I was in Coronation Street. It's a family show that goes out early evening," she explains. "And I lived and worked with the same small group of people. I'm not saying they would have disapproved of me if I told the world I preferred women. But I didn't feel I could cope with it if they did."

It was an incident near her Covent Garden flat that proved to be the turning point. "I was chased down the street one evening by a journalist wanting to ask me personal questions. "I told him that if he wouldn't do that to his own grandmother, then he shouldn't do it to me. "But when I arrived home he appeared again and started trying to talk to the person I was with. At that point, a passing taxi driver asked if I was all right. When I said 'no' he told me to get in his cab and lie on the floor. "I thought, 'What on earth am I doing at my age lying on the floor of a black cab to escape some prying journalist?' It was plain ridiculous. "I decided then and there that I'd write my autobiography."

It was a task she found surprisingly easy. She says: "I forgot any thoughts of what people might think. I was only interested in one thing - telling the truth." The resulting book proved to be both a revelation and liberation. "I'm as happy now as I've ever been," says Amanda. "I hadn't realised how unhappy I'd been - something that was brought home more acutely as soon as the truth was out. I'd been so vulnerable. Stories were forever being leaked to the press about actors in the Street."

And some of them, it seems, came from an insider on the soap. "I'm not going to reveal the source but I'd love the culprit to be caught because it's still happening today. It makes everyone's life a nightmare. "I used to warn each newcomer to be careful of this particular person - especially if there was an aspect of their private lives which might upset their mums and dads."

Amanda had also heard a rumour that somebody else was going to write a book about her, revealing her lesbian affairs. "It was all getting really tacky," she says. "I know it was stupid to have been so afraid of what people might say if the truth came out. But I was truly terrified. "At one point I even contemplated swallowing a load of pills. I was like a frightened animal. But the incident in Covent Garden changed all that. And if writing my story meant some people stopped talking to me, so be it. It took a tremendous weight off."

After it was published she was delighted when she didn't receive a single hate letter. "The book sparked an enormous postbag and all of it complimentary," she says. "I do think it's a relief to know that you're not the only person in the world with the same feelings about your sexuality."

The 68-year-old is every bit as frank and funny face-to-face as she is in print. And when we meet in a bar round the corner from her central London flat, she's full of enthusiasm about her new role in Bad Girls. She and Stephanie Beacham play Bev and Phyl, a couple of Costa Brava conwomen nicked for selling shares in non-existent golf courses. "I was enchanted that anyone who'd seen me wobbling around the Street all those years should ask me to do anything else," she says.

But then she's never been out of work in more than half a century in the business. She first made her mark as a dancer before moving into Carry On films. That was followed by her 15-year stint in Corrie. But she remains refreshingly dismissive of her lasting success. "I've been a household name for many years now - but so has Ajax. And I'm not Barbara Windsor. She's an icon. I'm just familiar."

Her autobiography also lifted the lid on the stand she took against Granada bosses over what she saw as irresponsible inaccuracies in Alma's most poignant storyline. "I didn't like the way my character was written out but I didn't mind being killed off. I was ready to leave," she explains. "But what I objected to was the powers that be getting the facts wrong about Alma's illness. "For instance, she got the results of her biopsy the same day it was done and that simply wouldn't happen. "One of the worst things about thinking you may have cancer is waiting for those results."

But despite locking horns over the plot, she did all she could to portray Alma's condition as truthfully as possible. "I was very conscious of not faking pain," she says. "I didn't feel I had the right. How dare I when there were people out there going through it for real?" And judging by the public reaction, Amanda's performance was spot-on. "I was walking through Birmingham after I'd left the Street and this lad ran up to me and clung on to my arm. "His mum had died of cancer the previous year and he wanted to tell me that Alma's death had stopped him feeling frightened about what had happened to her. "That was the biggest compliment."

So does she still keep up with all the goings-on in Weatherfield? "I never watched it while I was in it but now I wouldn't miss an episode," she explains. "I like to see what's happening to Helen Worth and Sue Nicholls. Oh, and Eileen Derbyshire. I adore her. She's someone who's made me laugh - by mistake or on purpose - almost more than anyone I know." She's also incredibly fond the Street's longest-serving resident, Bill Roache. "For all the mockery of him, he's an extraordinary man. "He still plays sport, still rides horses, still parachutes out of planes. He's a dear friend."

But it was the younger members of the cast who gave Amanda the strength to tell the world she's gay. "The kids were great. They have a different attitude to sex. They've got far fewer prejudices. "Older people suffer from a sort of Victorian hangover. But if you go back to the Georgians, they couldn't have cared less how many people were sharing the same bed."

And judging by Amanda's past it's a sentiment she can relate to. When she was married to actor Robin Hunter more than 30 years ago, she moved in a girlfriend who she refers to as Sally and all three shared the same bed. "I think the attitude was that if you wanted to join in, you joined in - whoever you were," she recalls. "There's a bit more variety if there are three of you and one's a man. But it's ridiculous to talk about lesbian romps. In all my life I've never romped with anyone. "You don't talk about a romp if it's a man and a woman. So why apply it to two people of the same sex? And as I was doing eight shows in the theatre each week, I was far more concerned about getting a good night's sleep. "I was the one crushed in the middle with a Yorkshire terrier on the pillow above my head. "And if we weren't 'romping', my husband would make me recite the Grand National winners in reverse order until we all went to sleep. "I know it must sound extraordinary to the outside world but it never seemed so to me. We were a very happy little unit. It was never dull. "We had immense fun. But you grow in different directions. In time, it ran its course."

But she and Robin have never divorced. "I've never been good at paperwork," she explains." There have been a handful of female relationships since she and Robin went their separate ways, but now it appears that she's found the love of her life. "Falling in love again has been a bonus," she says, but she refuses to elaborate about her lover, a former journalist who now writes novels. "It's all very well talking about me but it's not all very well for me to talk about somebody else," she says. "I was absolutely crippled by people gossiping about my private life and I won't do it about somebody else."

She's happy to talk about her work, though. Now that she's completed this series of Bad Girls, she's filming some episodes of BBC1's lunchtime drama, Doctors. "It's so nice to be asked," she says. "Well, it's the same as sex, isn't it? I've always thought that it's rude to say no."

New life of Brian
4 June 2003
MARRIED life seems to be agreeing with actor Brian Capron, judging by the former Coronation Street star's smiling face as he strolled along the beach yesterday. Capron, who played Corrie killer Tricky Dicky, wed Jacqueline Bucknell earlier this week in the Welsh village of Portmeirion. And the picturesque setting was a million miles away from the grimy streets of Weatherfield.

Thug Joe turns on Karen
3 June 2003
Domestic violence rears its ugly head when the knicker factory scam reaches its climax in Coronation Street - and pretty Karen McDonald is on the end of it.

Evil Joe Carter, played by Jonathan Wrather, is cock-a-hoop that his scheme to bleed Underworld white has brought Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs) to his knees. He and Karen (Suranne Jones) have convinced Mike that Naveen is responsible for a robbery that has crippled the firm. All they have to do now is sit tight and wait for the company to go under before they can start living the high life.

But at Joe's moment of triumph it all goes horribly wrong and the thug turns violent and beats up his live-in girlfriend Karen in a frenzied assault. Mike rumbles that a bogus company has been set up to syphon funds from Underworld's account and he confronts Karen who is forced to come clean. When Joe learns Karen has confessed all he turns on her delivering a vicious beating.

Mike could call the police, but is simply too embarrassed to admit he has been conned. Instead he orders Joe to clear off never to return to Weatherfield and sacks Karen.

Groom star's a Prisoner of love
3 June 2003
CORONATION Street's Tricky Dicky got hitched yesterday. Actor Brian Capron, who played serial killer Richard Hillman, walked up the aisle at Portmeirion village - where cult TV show The Prisoner was filmed. Coronation Street stars were among the guests in the Welsh village as the 55- year-old married partner Jacqueline Bucknall, 41. The couple share a home in Hove, Sussex, with their six-year-old son Louis. Fans eager to catch a glimpse of the star were kept at bay by security guards, and it emerged the couple had sold the pictures to a magazine.

More than 200 guests were treated to spectacular views from the whitewashed Portmeirion Hotel. Jazz music was piped around the village. Among the well-wishers were Michael Le Vell, who plays Kevin Webster in the soap, and Bruce Jones, who plays Les Battersby. After the ceremony, guests ran on to the beach below the hotel to write "Jac loves Brian" on the sand.

The Italian-style village near Portmaddog was the location for The Prisoner - a 60s drama about a man trapped in a surreal world. Architect Clough William-Ellis began work on Portmeirion in 1926. It took him until 1976 to complete the project. Recently, the final scenes of ITV drama Cold Feet were filmed in the village. Lead character Rachel's ashes were scattered into the Dwyryd Estuary.

Court on camera
2 June 2003 by Malcolm Balen
The stakes couldn't have been higher. In the dock, a defendant accused of assault. In the witness box, the alleged victim of the attack, a policeman with a fractured eye socket. To the jury, the evidence looked convincing. But nothing was as it seemed.

The truth was that two officers on patrol had stopped a taxi for going through a red light. By chance, it turned out that the policeman was living with the driver's estranged wife and they couldn't stand each other. Sharp words were exchanged and the PC lost control, punching the defendant and kicking him on the ground. Only then did he take stock of what he'd done, realising, too late, that he'd placed his entire career in jeopardy after nearly 20 years in the force. He put pressure on his colleague, a sergeant, to back him up, rather than lose his job. Reluctantly, she agreed to concoct a story that the driver had started it.

So far, so dramatic, especially for the television audience which was watching - because, unusually, cameras were in court. And that's what it was, of course - a drama, the climax of a long-running storyline in Coronation Street, starring its resident troublemaker, Les Battersby.

In court, things went from bad to worse for Les. The prosecution counsel was allowed to question him about his previous convictions, forcing the admission that he had been convicted of assault. "You can't do that!" shouted Les, when his murky past was dredged up. "Oh yes he can!" retorted the judge. With a sad inevitability, Les went to jail. In real life, of course, Les would be right. Ordinarily, jurors would not be told about a defendant's record in case it coloured their judgment of the evidence placed before them. Only if the judge agreed to a prosecution application, which would take place without the jury present, might a defendant's past be mentioned.

"Shoddy work," complained a solicitors' association. "Not properly researched. A judicial joke." But is it? Do soaps have an obligation to inform and educate their audiences, as well as to entertain? "It's drama first and foremost" is the scriptwriters' bemused reaction to claims that, in this instance, they lost the plot. They have to fight to capture millions of viewers in the key television battleground of the evening schedule. That means they claim dramatic licence in the interests of their audience. It's more forceful to end Les Battersby's case with the prosecution's summing up, rather than giving the defence the last word, as real court procedure dictates. And it would clearly only trouble the legal eagles in the audience that the defence witnesses were called in the wrong order.

The real problem is not that Coronation Street got it wrong, but that no one else has a chance to get it right. Its court case is a rare glimpse into a closed world for television viewers who have no opportunity to see a British court in action on their screens. Every day our news journalists labour under the legal restrictions placed upon them when they report court cases. It's difficult to do what Coronation Street does - to engage an audience when the viewers are excluded from so much of the legal process. In television news, all we can show are arrival shots and stills and an artist's drawings of the personalities in court, and only then if identification is not an issue.

Last year, ITV News brought an inventive new look to its court coverage, for which it won a Royal Television Society award. It produced highly realistic computerised images of court number one at the Old Bailey for the trial of Paul Burrell, the former butler of the Princess of Wales, accused of stealing her possessions. But ITN's success is also a reflection of how far away we are from getting cameras into court, despite successful experiments. It's more than a decade since Scotland tried out cameras in civil and criminal hearings to record a BBC documentary series, and the Lockerbie bombers' appeal was broadcast live from Camp Zeist, a specially convened Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands. But the lord president still holds the view that court cases shouldn't be televised.

At Westminster, the lord chancellor, Lord Irvine, is said to be examining the possibility of putting cameras into appeal hearings, where there are no juries, not for broadcast purposes but to see whether the equipment disrupts the work of the courtroom. But don't hold your breath. He was thinking about it two years ago and his office says that no decision is imminent. In the meantime, give or take a documentary reconstruction or the coverage of a foreign trial, we have to rely on fictional courts for a televisual glimpse into the workings of the law. Is it fair to ask dramatists to take the prime responsibility for educating the audience by bringing to the screen an accurate representation of the judicial system?

Then again, it could be that Coronation Street is simply preparing us for the next twist in the story - that Les has clear grounds for appeal.

Get thee to a nunery Tracy
2 June 2003
Former Coronation Street favourite Tracy Shaw will surely feel at home in her latest role. The actress who famously played murder victim Maxine Peacock has secured a role as Ophelia - the tragic heroine in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

It is Tracy's second big stage part since leaving the Street and her first crack at a Shakespeare classic. She has wowed West End audiences with her part in The Blue Room, in which she appears naked. She proved herself a real trouper when she continued with the performances despite the breakdown of her 23-month marriage to TV producer Robert Ashworth.

Ophelia too had more than her fair share of tragedy. She drowns after being rejected by her love, Hamlet the Prince of Denmark, with the cruel put down: "Get thee to a nunnery.". Tracy takes on the part in a series of open-air performances in London, Birmingham and Manchester later this summer.  

Bruno's gay away day
2 June 2003
GAY fans of Coronation Street pin-up Bruno Langley flocked to a cancer charity fundraiser yesterday. They clamoured for autographs as Bruno, 19, appeared at the Marie Curie event in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire.

Bruno, the soap's Todd Grimshaw, is set to dump girlfriend Sarah Platt for a man in a new storyline. An event organiser said: "It was not just girls who turned out in force."

Bond ambition
1 June 2003
CORONATION STREET star JONATHAN WRATHER must fancy himself as the next 007. His leaving party from the soap was a James Bond- themed bash. Was it a hint to movie producers that with Pierce Brosnan quitting, there's another tall, dark and handsome actor ready to don his tuxedo?

Jonathan's sexy Street co-star SURANNE JONES also got 'em shaken and stirred singing the Bond song Nobody Does It Better at the party in Bar Barca in Manchester.

But oh oh dear, TINA O'BRIEN! She looked like M's frumpy secretary Miss Moneypenny. And Steve McDonald star SIMON GREGSON had to make do with his fingers instead of a golden gun.

Fred's easy to spot
CORRIE landlord Fred Elliott must be pulling someone's leg as well as his pints. Actor JOHN SAVIDENT, who as Fred is still trying to help screen son Ashley over the death of Maxine, has obviously got a blind spot when it comes to fashion. The 64-year-old dotty soap star was pictured during a break from the show carrying a bag of clothes and smoking a cigarette.

One onlooker said: "John likes to keep up to date with fashion but he's made a big mistake with this one. "Everyone gasped because no-one could believe what he looked like. Bless him for trying, but he ought to get rid of the polka dots. It's a fashion disaster."

Nikki Sanderson
SO is NIKKI SANDERSON, who plays Corrie teenager Candice, too good to be true? Nikki says: "Fame will never change me, I'll always be the girl-next-door. I would never use my celebrity to get something and I'd never refuse an autograph. If the public didn't like me I wouldn't have a job."

Jenni McAlpine
CORRIE star JENNI McALPINE has an odd taste in blokes off-screen as well as on. Jenni, who plays Fizz, has the hots for monkey man Liam Gallagher! She raves: "Liam would be my dream date, he's drop-dead gorgeous. I love everything about him, even his walk turns me on."

Suranne does it better
1 June 2003
Corrie actress Suranne Jones made sure she gave co-star Jonathan Wrather a send-off to remember. She belted out Carly Simon 's Bond hit Nobody Does It Better for Jonathan at his star-studded leaving bash. Suranne, who plays lingerie factory girl Karen McDonald, stole the show in a stylish black dress at the 007-themed party in a bar in Manchester. Jonny didn't look too bad either in a tuxedo.

Suranne, 24, and Jonathan - Underworld boss Joe Carter - became close friends after filming the red-hot love triangle storyline. And Jonathan has been a shoulder to cry on as Suranne gets over the break-up of her engagement to computer programmer Jim Phelan .

But love was in the air for Samia Ghadie , who plays naughty Rovers barmaid Maria Sutherland. She gave her new boyfriend, property developer Matthew Smith , a first-time outing.

The black & blue room
29 May 2003 by Calum Macdonald
FORMER Coronation Street star Tracy Shaw has been left bruised and battered by her raunchy stage performance in The Blue Room.

The 29-year-old revealed shocking dark bruises on her side, legs and arms at a food store promotion yesterday. But it was revealed that the actress, who played hairdresser Maxine Peacock in Corrie, has a blood disorder which means she bruises like a peach.

Tracy is nearing the end of a 16-week tour of the steamy play, in which she appears naked with Sean Connery's son Jason. The 10 scenes of the play follow a series of lovers, all played by Shaw and Connery. The play is physically demanding and Tracy has picked up more than a few scratches and bruises along the way. The set is large and complicated and on more than one occasion she has stumbled into scenery during scene changes.

Earlier this year, one bump left her with a cut above the eye. Her injury was so bad she missed two performances but she joked that she had a scar just like David Beckham, who was cut when team boss Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a boot. The bruises on her arms and legs were revealed yesterday as she did a promotional photo shoot for healthy eating during a break in performances at the Lowry Centre in Salford, near Manchester.

For Tracy, it is a return to performing in Coronation Street land. The Granada Studios where her character was bludgeoned to death by serial killer Richard Hillman are just up the road. She has been busy with work since her exit from the soap but she has had personal problems.

Earlier this year, she revealed her stormy marriage to TV producer Robert Ashworth was on the rocks but she denied claims that she had attacked him in a drunken rage. The couple are now living apart. Richard Arnold, promoter of The Blue Room, said: "I imagine Tracy picked these bruises up during scene changes because there is a lot of scenery lying about. "She also has a blood disorder which means she bruises easily."

Who is Ashley's stalker?
28 May 2003
Coronation Street's Ashley Peacock is heading for some unwelcome attention - from a mystery stalker.

After a report appears in the local paper claiming he is engaged to nanny Claire, posters begin appearing around Weatherfield congratulating the couple. But the posters are supposedly from Ashley's murdered wife Maxine, the Daily Star reported. Suspicion immediately falls on Claire, who is besotted with butcher Ashley and his baby son Joshua - but show insiders have hinted she may not be responsible.

A source told the Star: "To some people it seems Ashley has landed himself the original nanny from hell. "It's especially spooky when the posters begin to appear. Ashley is devastated and beside himself with worry over what could possible happen next."

Ashley's dad Fred is furious and begins to suspect Claire, the source said. "As far as he's concerned Claire is the one putting his son through this nightmare. He wants her out of their lives as quickly as possible." But they added: "We're not confirming or denying anything, but viewers know Claire has a jealous boyfriend. "Could he be the one behind the stalking plot?"  

Privates on parade
27 May 2003 by Nancy Banks-Smith
It is a typical northern bank holiday in Coronation Street (ITV1), where we know how to make our own entertainment. Framed in an upstairs window and clutching his baby to his breast, Curly Watts is flinging his estranged wife's smalls on to the cobbles. (Traditionally, it is the wife who does the clutching and flinging, but Curly is a new man and house husband, so the roles are reversed.)

His wife, Emma, is an inspector with the Greater Manchester Constabulary, so we were charmed at the frivolous nature of her pastel underpinnings. Personally, I would have purchased some stout, blue, serge bloomers (admittedly after a prolonged search) and pretended they were hers. "This," cried Emma in anguish, "is private." "Not very," said Norris, speaking up for a small but appreciative crowd.

Street bosses plan return for Curly
26 May 2003
Axed Coronation Street veteran Kevin Kennedy has reportedly been told his character Curly Watts will return to the show next year.

The popular actor was told last month he would be leaving the soap after 20 years' service, and Curly's departure will be screened on ITV1 in the autumn. He will follow his wife Emma, played by Angela Lonsdale, out of Weatherfield and will join her in Newcastle to try to patch up their marriage.

But the show's chiefs told this week's TV Times they are already plotting his return. Producer Kieran Roberts said: "There is a huge amount of affection for a character of such long standing, so we're reluctant to say goodbye to Curly permanently. "I'll be working with the story team to devise a suitable return for him."

Kennedy told the Daily Star he was happy at the prospect of bringing Curly back. "I am pleased that Kieran has allowed me to take this time out and I look forward to playing Curly again in the future," he said.

Corrie stars face grilling in BNP trial
26 May 2003
THREE Coronation Street actresses who campaigned against racism could be called to testify in the trial of a BNP activist. Liz Dawn, Julie Hesmondhalgh and Shobna Gulati are set to be served with legal documents ordering them to appear as witnesses.

Oldham BNP supporter Mick Treacy, 41, was charged with "using a vehicle with excess noise" following a protest outside the Corrie set. As the cast rehearsed, music including Land Of Hope And Glory was blasted through a van's loudspeaker.

The BNP demo came after Shobna, 28, joined Anti- Nazi League supporters in leafleting homes in Oldham, the scene of race riots in 2001, urging people to vote in last year's local elections.

Terror of Corrie beauty
25 May 2003 by Dan Evans
CORONATION Street star Shobna Gulati has been terrorised by racist thugs. Shobna, 31, was confronted by two white men who screamed "Paki bitch" and spat threats as she sat in a car.

Last night Shobna, who plays shop girl Sunita Parekh, was still too upset to discuss her ordeal. But a friend said: "She was sitting in a car at traffic lights. Two men in their 20s were mucking about beside her. "She told me, 'They started screaming Paki bitch' and they hurled other vile abuse at her. She was shaken by it all and had no choice but to report it to the police. She made a full statement."

Victim support officials have offered her counselling and anti-racism officers at Greater Manchester Police are investigating the incident, which happened last week in the Hollinwood area of Oldham where Shobna was brought up. It was next to a ward contested by Nick Griffin, leader of the far-right British National Party, in this month's local elections. Shobna had handed out leaflets in the area in 2002 against the BNP.

In 2001 Britain's biggest race riots for 15 years erupted in Oldham amid claims the BNP were fanning the flames of hate. The damage ran to more than £2million - and resulted in 200 criminal charges . Shobna, who recently split from former Emmerdale star Gary Turner, has tried to promote racial harmony in Oldham. She helped found the town's multi-ethnic theatre group and last year campaigned for everyone to use their vote in a bid to stop the BNP gaining seats.

Shobna and fellow Corrie star Julie Hesmondhalgh, who plays Hayley Cropper, posted pro-democracy election leaflets in BNP target areas. She said: "I had a relatively hassle-free upbringing and don't want to live in a community where there is a divide. "I am definitely more aware of racism now. It's obviously to do with social deprivation and who has what and which community has more, but I can't come up with a logical reason."

Her anti-racist stand made her a target for the far-right even before last week's incident. BNP member Mick Treacy, 41, blared Land Of Hope And Glory from speakers outside Granada Studios in Manchester - where Coronation Street is recorded - before local elections last year. The party won a quarter of the vote in the area's local elections this month.

Last night, Shobna's friend said: "She has been outspoken but measured in her comments. She did not campaign this year."

Shobna is the daughter of Indians who came to Britain in the 1960s. Her father, a doctor, chose Oldham because of the reputation of its hospital. Last night a police spokesman said: "We are committed to tackling hate crime and incidents of this nature will not be tolerated." A spokesman for Granada TV said: "This is a personal matter for Shobna."

Schoolboys chat me up, but it's a waste... I fancy older man
25 May 2003
SCHOOLGIRL Katy Harris is about to shock Coronation Street fans by seducing dad-of-two Martin Platt. But actress Lucy-Jo Hudson, who plays the 16-year-old temptress, has no qualms about the sizzling plot - because she really does fancy older men.

Lucy-Jo, 20 in real life, told The People: "I think the reason is because I'm mature for my age. "I've never been out with anyone younger than 23 and I can understand why Katy falls for Martin. "The funny thing is I get loads of schoolboys chatting me up because they think I am 16. It's such a waste."

The first hint of her on-screen affair with 35-year-old male nurse Martin, played by Sean Wilson, came with a stolen kiss in Friday's episode. But, with Katy determined to get her man, there's far more to come as the controversial storyline develops over the summer. And Martin, whose daughter Sarah Louise is the same age as Katy, becomes a hate figure in the Street when the news comes out - particularly with good mate Tommy Harris, the furious dad of his new love.

Lucy-Jo, who is single at the moment, says divorce Martin may be a bit too old even for her. She said: "My ideal boyfriend would be in his late 20s. It would be great if he took me out for dinner and then clubbing. I'm a bit of a party animal. I haven't got a type of man looks-wise but they have to have a great sense of humour."

Lucy-Jo only joined the soap seven months ago - as part of a mystery family we now know were being hidden as part of a police witness protection scheme. She is using her own experiences of teenage crushes to act out her scenes with Martin. She said: "Like most teenagers, I had a massive crush on loads of people - especially singers from boy bands. "I was a massive fan of Boyzone and had all their CDs. It's so weird that I've been working with Keith Duffy on the show. He's a great bloke but there was a time when I had pictures of him on my bedroom wall."

Lucy-Jo was amused to be described as a "soap babe" after attending her first awards ceremony. She said: "They're having a laugh! Forget looking sexy, I was too worried I was going to fall on my a*** on the red carpet."

But fans may be surprised to know Lucy-Jo is a natural blonde who has to dye her hair brunette for the part. She said "I really hated it at first. "But now I prefer it. "I don't know whether blondes have more fun - but I'm having plenty as a brunette!"

It's time to move on, says Angela
24 May 2003
Angela Lonsdale, who plays Corrie's resident cop Emma Watts, says she isn't worried about life after the Street. Along with husband Curly (Kevin Kennedy) Emma will walk out of Weatherfield after showing her darker side.

Emma recently lied in the witness box to protect bent cop Mick, even though her testimony sent innocent Les Battersby to prison for six months on an assault charge. Principled Curly has been disgusted by his wife's behaviour. He tells her to choose between their marriage or her career. When she chooses the latter he kicks her out.

Angela told the Daily Mirror's The Look magazine: "I am hoping people will be sympathetic and recognise that Emma was in a no-win situation. She was faced with a terrible moral dilemma. "If she told the truth she would destroy the career of a fellow officer and be treated as a grass, and if she lied she would have to live with the consequences. "She did nothing wrong, but was stuck in the middle and faced losing everything. I have had nothing but support from the public up until now and have my fingers crossed that nothing will change."

Angela is tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding her departure. She added: "Viewers will have to wait and see what happens. All I can say is we have some big emotional scenes. It is wonderful to have something you can really get your teeth into. "The outcome of this storyline means that I can take new opportunities that are being offered and I'm really excited about the future. I feel the time is right to move on."

Soap stars make sexy women list
23 May 2003
Star from soaps past and present made a strong showing in the 100 Sexiest Women poll organised by lads' mag FHM. Former Neighbours star turned pop princess Holly Valance was pipped to the top spot by Bond girl Halle Berry - the competition's oldest winner at 34. Kylie Minogue, who blazed the soap to pop stardom trail before Holly, also made the top ten, at number nine.

Samia Ghadie, Maria Sutherland in Coronation Street, was the highest rated current soap actress at number 52. Jennifer Ellison, who was Emily O'Leary in Brookside, came in at 60 and Jill Halfpenny, undercover cop Kate Tyler in EastEnders, was rated number 62, closely followed by Hollyoaks babe Elize Du Toit at number 68

More than five million votes were counted from around the world for this year's competition. Berry shot up from last year's 33rd place thanks to her sexy high-profile roles. The oldest previous winner was Teri Hatcher in 1997, who was 32 at the time of her win. Last year's number one, Anna Kournikova, has to content herself with just eighth spot in 2003. The highest-placed Brit for the third year running was soon-to-be-ex-S Club star Rachel Stevens. She finished at number four, down from the runner-up slot last year. Teenage singing star Charlotte Church made the list at number 21 - a rise of 68 places in a year.

Top 10: 1. Halle Berry 2. Holly Valance 3. Britney Spears 4. Rachel Stevens 5. Carmen Electra 6. Jennifer Lopez 7. Jennifer Love Hewitt 8. Anna Kournikova 9. Kylie Minogue 10. Jolene Blalock.

Tears on the Street
22 May 2003 by Brian Roberts
CORONATION Street star Suranne Jones was struggling to come to terms with calling off her engagement yesterday. But the actress, 24, continued filming after her split with fiance Jim Phelan.

A source at Granada studios said: "If Jim is devastated then Suranne is heartbroken. "She is devastated but she is having to come in to the studios, put her face on and play feisty Karen McDonald in front of the cameras." Suranne, who is filming the biggest storylines of her career, has turned to friends on the cast for support. The source said: "They all go out together and look out for one another, so they're naturals to help her pull through."

Friends said computer programmer Jim, 28 was "absolutely heartbroken". One said: "Jim is struggling to come to terms with what has happened. He has moved out of their Cheshire home and took a day off work yesterday.

A Street spokesman denied rumours the split was due to Suranne having a fling with co-star Jonathan Wrather, who plays on-screen lover Joe Carter.

Heartache of Corrie's Suranne
21 May 2003 by Brian Roberts
CORONATION Street star Suranne Jones has split from her fiance, just months after his fairytale proposal. Friends fear the 24-year-old's rapid rise to stardom has left computer programmer Jim Phelan, 28, trailing in her wake.

Suranne, who plays feisty Karen McDonald, admitted yesterday that the relationship is over. She and Jim said in a joint statement: "We still love each other dearly and it is with deep regret we have reached the decision to separate. We share a large group of very close friends and will continue to see each other socially. "We have tried to work things out but it is evident now to us both that we are much better as friends than partners. "This is a sad time for both of us. It became increasingly clear over the past few months that we were growing further and further apart."

Jim proposed at Christmas after lighting 50 candles in the shape of a heart. Suranne, nominated this year as soap's sexiest female, is the darling of Britain's lad mags. She has been revelling in her new image. But one friend said last night: "That left Jim wondering where it was all going." Another claimed Jim confronted her about a night out at a restaurant after he heard rumours from the set.

As factory girl Karen, Granada bosses have been delighted with her ratings-boosting performances and are tipping her for huge success. Street associates said last night they hoped stardom has not turned Suranne's head. One said: "Let's face it, one minute she's playing a dowdy machinist, the next she's being tipped as the sexiest girl in Britain. "It's a shame it didn't work out between her and Jim. But every bloke in Manchester wants to ask her out, she's in photo-shoots for every lad mag going. "It's not just ordinary fellas who think she's stunning, it's men with a lot of money, a lot of clout who can open the door to every VIP restaurant and bar."

Suranne wept with joy when Jim proposed at Christmas. They met in the summer of 2000, but it was six months before he plucked up courage to ask her out. Her relationship with Jim was a far cry from her screen marriage to Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson). The warring characters both cheated on each other. Karen, recently promoted at Mike Baldwin's factory, eventually walked out on Steve and set up home with devious boss Joe Carter (Jonathan Wrather).

A Street insider said: "Suranne has had a meteoric rise and is fantastic in her role as Karen. "She is a brilliant actress and has a great future ahead of her. She has definitely made a mark for herself in the Street. "Suranne likes a good time and has been seen out enjoying herself with mates on a regular basis. "There has been talk among the younger kids in the cast for the last two or three weeks that she and Jim had called it a day. She decided to issue a statement to confirm it."

Prison cell misery begins for Street's wronged Les
21 May 2003
Wrongly convicted Les Battersby will be put behind bars in Coronation Street. He was sent down on the evidence of lying police sergeant Emma Watts in Monday's episode.

Battersby will be seen stepping into his sparse new home, dressed in his prison uniform and taking stock of his life after picking up a six-month sentence, in tonight's programme. Battersby was given a severe beating by Pc Mick Hopwood. But his police colleague Watts told the court it was Battersby who actually started the scuffle.

"He's a wronged man wondering where he goes from here," said a Corrie spokeswoman. Viewers will be left to stew over the coming weeks whether the miscarriage of justice which put Les behind bars will be righted.

Eagle-eyed Street fans will be party to an in-joke in tonight's episode, left by jokers on the show. On the wall of the cell the words "Free the Weatherfield one" can be seen written faintly in pen. That was the name of the campaign to free another victim of the courts system on the show, Deirdre Rachid.

My Curly classics
21 May 2003 by Claire Donnelly
SAY what you like about Curly Watts, his life has never been boring. Arriving in Coronation Street as a binman and leaving as a local councillor, actor Kevin Kennedy has seen his character through troubled - and some side-splitting - times. From foiling an armed siege to brawling in the Rovers, in 20 years speccy Curly has done it all. With his owlish glasses and trademark floppy hair, he might seem an unlikely Romeo, but he's had his fair share of Street romance too.

Blonde bimbo Raquel, temptress Maureen and current wife, Emma ... the bedroom of his terraced home has never been empty for long. Speaking to the Daily Mirror on the fourth day of our exclusive series, Kevin, 41, who is leaving the Street in July, says: "The last 20 years have gone so fast - it's genuinely hard to believe it's been that long. "I've been Curly for half of my life. We've grown up together really, which is one of the reasons I'm quite happy to see him go out in such a plausible way. "People might think that sounds strange, but the character is very important to me.

"There is nowhere for Curly to go at the moment, so it makes sense for him to go off with his wife. To be honest, I wouldn't have wanted them to have changed that just so I could stay. "He has always been such a credible character - that's part of his appeal - and they had to maintain that. Coronation Street has always done things the right way and this was no different."

But he hopes the character will be back in Weatherfield for more adventures in the future. "The door is open for me to come back and who knows what Curly could get up to then? He'll come back with a clean slate, an open book to get up to all sorts," he laughs. "When I joined I was only signed up for four episodes, I arrived as an intellectual binman, and never looked back. I had no idea how popular Curly was going to be, it was a bit of a shock. People identify with him because he's basically a nice bloke. He's loveable, isn't he? "And he's done everything. From moments of high drama with Raquel to the very funny stuff with Reg, there's been a huge range and I've made some great friends. "I love Ken Morley - who played Reg - and working with Sarah Lancashire was a real honour. It sounds like a cliche, but the cast and crew really are like family to me. "Whatever happens now at least people know me - I've been in the best shop window there is for 20 years."

Here Kevin looks back on some of his most memorable moments:

1985 Early days as a removal man with Terry Duckworth

KEVIN says that this sums up the time when he first found fame on the Street. He and Nigel Pivaro (Terry Duckworth) joined the show together and their close working relationship spilled over into real life. "Yes, I really liked Nigel," he says. "One minute I was anonymous, the next I was Curly Watts. "I went to see Manchester City around this time and fans chanted my name - then I knew I was famous."

 

1989 Lodging with the mile- a-minute Duckworths

IT might not be everyone's idea of fun but living with the Duckworths was a fast and furious experience for Kevin. The hundreds of "at home with Jack and Vera" scenes he shot in his early days gave the young actor a chance to make his mark on the Street... but he couldn't afford to pussyfoot around. "My scenes with the Duckworths were done between 1,000mph and 1,000 decibels, and I had to learn fast because Bill Tarmey and Liz Dawn just kept going. If I didn't jump in and say my lines, I lost them."

 

1991 Covered in gold paint for the Weatherfield Carnival

WITH the whole of Coronation Street in fancy dress, scriptwriters decided to make the most of Curly's comic potential and cast him as Mercury. Poor Kevin had to be covered from head to toe in gold paint to make sure he looked the part, with only a small costume to hide his modesty. "It was very hot and the paint ran down my legs," he remembers. "It wasn't Goldfinger - more like Goldbunions. "We were all wearing short robes so there were some very rude comments as we climbed on and off the float."

 

1993 Being seduced by Maureen Holdsworth, his boss's wife

WHEN Curly bedded his boss's wife, it was a bitter-sweet experience for Kevin. The episode brought great ratings - and an embarrassing injury. He explains: "Sherrie Hewson, who played Maureen, is a very physical actress and in this episode she got tipsy and seduced Curly on the settee. "We did it at half-speed in rehearsals and it went fine. But when they shouted 'Action' she jumped on me and kneed me in the groin. "I played the whole scene with tears in my eyes."

 

1994 Curly unshaven and losing the plot after losing his job

AFTER being sacked from his supermarket job at Bettabuy on a trumped-up charge, Curly became depressed and had to rely on Maureen to cheer him up. Viewers were shocked to see his character looking so drained and dishevelled. "Emotional scenes are more draining than fights," he says. "Maureen came round and found Curly wallowing in despair. I had to prepare for it by going unshaven for a few days. "It might look great on pop stars but I felt like a hedgehog."

 

1995 Heartbreak at Raquel and Curly's engagement party

ONE of Corrie's most emotional scenes was the love triangle between Curly, Raquel and Des. After a big build-up, it reached a climax at Curly and Raquel's engagement party. "This is my favourite scene," says Kevin. "Des stirs up Raquel again, she tells Curly she can't marry him and he is devastated. It's got everything - sex, violence, humour, heartache, despair and deceit - everything an actor could want. "In that episode, Julie Goodyear comforted me by resting my head on her famous chest. Well, you've got to have some perks."

 

 

1995 Brawling with Des Barnes over his affair with Raquel

THEY say you shouldn't hit a man with glasses, but Curly has had his fair share of fights - and this one was the biggest. After his affair with Raquel, Des Barnes took a few punches and the scene was so realistic, both actors ended up black and blue. "Fight scenes can be quite dangerous," he says. "You can't hit someone but you have to make it rough enough to appear convincing. "I ended up with bruises. This is my favourite fight because Curly really lost his temper. The adrenalin took over and I felt shattered afterwards."

 

1995 Having a laugh inspecting Reg Holdsworth's wig

STRUGGLING to keep a straight face as he checks out his sidekick's new toupee, Kevin says the mad-cap storyline was the funniest he ever worked on. He explains: "It was funny but also rather sad - here was this insecure guy, worrying about getting older... "Ken Morley and I worked very well together and we were always playing jokes on each other. "You'd wait until Ken was about to start filming then flick his wig at the back, so the fringe flopped down over his eyes."

 

1995 In bed with Raquel on the QE2 in honeymoon special

A HONEYMOON cruise proved a real voyage of discovery for Kevin. Filming the special episode with new wife Raquel, the actors made sure they had plenty of laughs. "We had a great time, although there was one puzzling moment," he says. "All the way through our love scene, Sarah Lancashire was fiddling around under the sheets. When filming finished, I asked what she was doing. She lifted her hands out and I saw she was wearing a pair of rubber gloves. "To this day, I don't know why she felt she needed them!"

 

1999 Saying goodbye to Raquel in Millennium night episode

WORKING with Ken Morley may have provided the laughs for Kevin but it was acting alongside Sarah Lancashire that proved his most emotional Corrie moment. "It was a tremendous honour when Sarah and I were asked to do a whole episode on Millennium night," he says. "After all, it was the show that took Coronation Street into the new century. "It wasn't long after I'd come out of rehab and it was a very humbling experience - I was really touched by it."

Amanda comes out then goes in
21 May 2003 by Derek Robins
Gay ex-Corrie star Amanda Barrie was worried about the public reaction after she came out as a lesbian last year. The actress, who joins prison drama Bad Girls on Thursday, made her revelation in her autobiography in November and she tells TV Plus: "I thought people might throw stones at me because they thought I had an unconventional life. The opposite has happened — people have hugged me in the street, there hasn't been one wrong word."

She says she hated living a lie while she was playing Alma Halliwell in Corrie. The 67-year-old, who bowed out of the soap after 20 years in 2001, says: "I did not like lying about about my sexuality, but I kept quiet as I was in Corrie. I thought it wasn't compatible with my character. But now I don't think being a lesbian is a big deal. There seem to be more people out than in these days — I think I've started a fashion!"

She says fans may be shocked when they see her in Bad Girls, she's been transformed into a redhead. She and Stephanie Beacham join the cast as conwomen Bev Tull and Phyl Oswyn. They are in for five years for fiddling ex-pats in Spain. Amanda says: "I don't think anyone will recognise me — I look like Jane Asher's granny. I'm wearing half the make-up I usually have and I look awful. Bev's clothes are like a walking settee."

She says that landing a part in the prison series is a dream come true. She laughs: "I've got street cred which is very impressive. Bryan Park who was the Corrie producer contacted me and I was thrilled to be asked. "The shoot has been really enjoyable and the set isn't far from my home in London, so I could come home at night, unlike Corrie in Manchester. I didn't know much about the drama before but I watched quite a few episodes and became an addict. Stephanie and I have had a really good time. I met her years ago but we'd never worked together. "Bev and Phyl are a wicked team. Bev can be a bit vicious — she's terrible to Denny when she pretends to be a clairvoyant who can put her in touch with her dead lover Shaz. Then there are the booze and drug scams..."

Amanda says she has no regrets about quitting The Street. Her character Alma died from cancer and Amanda says: "I had wanted to go for a while but I put off leaving for three years. There was a worry that I might be too old to get other work. "I'm really glad I quit even though Corrie was very good for me. I guess I will always be remembered as Alma, hardly a day goes by when I'm not stopped in the street by fans."

Apart from Bad Girls, Amanda is back in a soap just two years after leaving Corrie. She has just finished filming two episodes of BBC1 daytime show Doctors. She says: "I'm playing the best pal of Christopher Timothy's character's wife. I turn up at a wedding, get drunk and ruin things." Next she is hoping there'll be a new run of Bad Girls and her unfulfilled ambition is to appear at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane near her London pad.

The prison part is the latest role for Amanda in a showbiz career which has spanned nearly 50 years. A real-life bad girl, she was expelled from two schools before she began working in London's Soho theatres. She then appeared as a hostess on 1950s gameshow Double Your Money but first shot to fame as Cleopatra in the 1964 movie Carry On Cleo. Then along came Alma in Corrie in the 1980s and the rest is history.

Corrie's Curly on the son he thought he'd lost
20 May 2003 by Jenny Johnston
MOST recovering alcoholics will tell you about the huge voids in their lives. The days, weeks, months and years lost to drink. The shattered relationships. The friendships that could never quite be repaired. Kevin Kennedy knows only too well how easy it is to lose track of the most important elements of life.

When his drinking was at its worst, he did something that he now regards as unthinkable - he turned his back on his own son. "I didn't see him for five years," nods the Coronation Street actor. "I couldn't. I was drinking heavily and nothing mattered to me but the drink. I didn't want him to see me like that. "Even when I got myself sober, I didn't dare get in touch. Ryan only lived a couple of miles from me, with his mother, but I never tried to contact him. I wasn't brave enough for that."

Luckily for Kevin, his only child didn't have such qualms. When he was 11 - five years after he had last seen his dad in the flesh - the little boy pedalled around to Kevin's house, determined to stage his own reunion with the man he now knew only as Curly from the TV.

Kevin has never spoken before about his amazing reconciliation with Ryan, his son from his first marriage, which ended in 1993. The teenager is now 16. "It was one of those moments you never forget. You only get a few in every lifetime. And this was definitely one. I call it my redemption. He came looking for me, and I was sober when he did it. I can't tell you what that meant.

"I remember I'd just got home from work and a neighbour came across to say a little kid had been looking for me. "My heart leapt. I knew it must be Ryan, and I went straight inside to call his mum, Dawn. I was shaking. "I said, 'I think Ryan has been here'. Of course, she was worried. Not that Ryan had tried to make contact with his dad, that dreadful drunk. "But because he'd been out on the road on his own, and he was really too young for that."

There may not exactly have been a tearful doorstep reconciliation, but that's how it feels. "It wasn't a case of me opening the door and seeing him and us both falling into each others arms," admits Kevin. "But in my head it is. It meant that much. "I hadn't seen him at all for five years. There is no excuse really. I'd used the fact that he was living with his mother ... it was easier not to face him. Dawn is a great mother. She's doing a terrific job of bringing Ryan up and that gave me an excuse to stay away."

How you go about rebuilding a relationship with the child you haven't seen for five years is not something Kevin can easily answer. He is reluctant to talk too much about his re-entry into his son's life. In many ways, the pair are still getting to know each other. "We took it really slowly at first," he explains. "I went round and had a chat. I took him for breakfast at aa Little Chef. Then we went out for the day. Then to the footie."

He breaks into a huge smile. "I'm a mad Man City fan, and he supported United, but he is coming round to my way of thinking. I told him I would sew the other leg back on for him." The jokes and the footie appear to be what holds the relationship together. "Our whole relationship is based around football. I take him to all the away games. It isn't really a father-son thing. We are mates. I take the p*** out of him and we banter, "And it is great. We are making up for an awful lot of lost time. He's a great kid."

Of course, both have missed out on a lot during those five years without contact. "There were no winners," he says. "But the fact that Ryan came looking for me meant a lot. I have talked to him about those years. I've told him what I was going through, and that I'm not doing that any more. "To be honest, he hasn't made it difficult. You don't need to go into the ins and outs with children. They understand."

Since he came out of rehab, Kevin Kennedy has done a lot to put right the relationships in his life. Yesterday, he talked movingly of how he had to almost start again with Clare, the PR executive he married in 1998. Today, he admits that his problems put unbelievable strains on their marriage. "Those pressures continued even when I had stopped drinking. If anything, it was harder then because my sobriety came first, second and third in our relationship. "This sounds awful, but I didn't have the capacity to worry about what my wife was going through. Clare wasn't allowed to have her own problems. I wasn't there for her."

It is only in the past couple of years that he has become a proper husband. "A little while ago she had a go at getting into television. She did a few shows, but was disappointed when the jobs ended. "For the first time, I was actually there for her, providing some sort of emotional support. "I've had to learn how to do that. It sounds really basic, but that's what I mean about starting again." "I'm still not brilliant at sharing my emotions. I can be a moody git. There are days when I just want to dive under the covers and say: 'I hate the world'. But I'm learning, and Clare is helping me. "I'm well aware of how much I owe her. If she'd refused to come back to me, I would have had to go through the rehab myself, but having her there certainly smoothed the way."

With first-hand experience of living with an alcoholic, Clare is now training to be a counsellor, determined to advise other people on how to survive the sort of pressures she and Kevin endured. "She is amazing," he admits. "She has been stronger than I will ever be. She must have felt like such a failure when she realised exactly who I was. No one wants to be married to a drunk. "But she believed in me when I didn't even believe in myself."

Now, Kevin is quietly confident about his future, despite admitting that he doesn't know where his career - or his life - will take him. "If all this has taught me anything, it is that the only thing you can rely on in life is change. And change is good." He and Clare have discussed having children of their own. "I have been broody for some time," he admits. "That's just the way I am. It's not just babies, it's puppies too - anything can set me off. "Being a dad on screen has made me terribly broody. Ben is a wonderful baby and we have a real chemistry. "He has been on the set since he was just two weeks old. His mother told me recently that he saw me on television one night and his arms automatically went out to me. "So if it happens, it happens. It would be great. But we're not getting hung up on planning these things."

He admits that his closeness to his own parents Joan and Fred and older sister Catherine has made him aware of how important family is. "We are a big strong Irish family, and that makes you get your priorities straight. Recently we had a scare when my mum was ill. I was playing with a band in Dublin and she collapsed. Later she had a stroke. "She is fine now, but it was a really worrying time for a while. You do start running through things in your head."

Kevin is honest about just how complicated his private life is. And he knows there is still a lot of work to put into the biggest relationships of his life. "My personal life hasn't been a straight road," he admits. "There have been plenty of ups and downs. If you put what had happened to me into Coronation Street viewers would dismiss it as far-fetched. I made a lot of mistakes through drink, but I'm not making excuses. "I've made some terrible mistakes in sobriety too."

He may not be entirely sure of what the future holds - either professionally or privately - but he seems to be coming to terms with that. "The truth is I can do anything I want to now I'm not tied to the glass. There is a big world out there, and I'm not afraid of it any more."

Perhaps the biggest indication that he is facing up to his past demons is that he is genuinely chuffed when people tell him he has changed. "The best thing in the world is when people say, 'I didn't used to like you, but I think I do now. "That's nice, you know. It means people are always willing to give you that second chance."

Curly: How booze nearly killed me
19 May 2003 by Jenny Johnston and Claire Donnelly
IT starts as a peculiar commentary, all name-dropping and globe-trotting. "That is me with the Queen," says Kevin Kennedy as he talks himself through his own photo-album. "That's in Bangkok, with some transvestites. Here, I'm on the QE2. This is me with Noel Gallagher at Wembley."

But then it gets even stranger. The Coronation Street star wonders why he was sitting in a sandpit for this picture, or had a teatowel over his head in that one. A pattern starts to emerge. "Drunk ... I was on the ale there ... drunk ... Alex Higgins ... Page 3 girl, Marie whatserface ... p****d as a newt..." Finally, he peers at himself at the top of the Empire State Building, and admits he can't remember being there. "A bender," he shrugs. "I was in New York for a week, and the only thing I can remember was going into Carnegie's Deli. The rest is a total blackout. "I have no memory at all of even being in these pictures."

This is a difficult time for Kevin. On Thursday, the actor was told his character, Norman "Curly" Watts, was being written out of the programme after 20 years. In Saturday's Daily Mirror, Kevin, 41, talked candidly of his initial shame and disappointment, and his hopes for a future. So candidly, in fact, that he even surprised himself. "I'm still getting used to talking about my emotions," he admits today. "I spent so much of my life denying that I had any. "Whenever I had any setback, any problem, I would bury my feelings. I would drink them away.

ONCE, being made redundant would have sent me running for the bottle, and I wouldn't have stopped until I felt nothing at all. "But now, I know that the only way is to confront them. To accept that life is all about feeling anger and pain, along with the good feelings. "You don't deal with anything by picking up a bottle. "It's a measure of just how far I've come that I've been able to think lucidly about this. I am a walking miracle. The very fact that I am here, able to face things like losing my job is nothing short of remarkable. "I don't want to come across as all preachy or anything, but I do believe that if I can get myself back on track, anyone can."

It is no secret that Kevin is a recovering alcoholic. It is five years since he came out of rehab. But until now, Kevin has shied away from talking about the most difficult period of his life. "It's easier sometimes to turn it all into a string of anecdotes about falling out of this or that pub," he admits. "But there was nothing funny about that New York trip. Most normal drinkers have occasions where they cannot remember how they got home. But I lost an entire week. That is scary s***. When you get to that stage, you could have murdered someone and not remember it."

It is almost impossible to believe that this upbeat, articulate, thoughtful man is the same Kevin Kennedy he is describing. "I look back on those days, and I realise I was insane. I was killing myself. I'd been told that I had to chose between the drink and life. It was the only thing in my world, and I resented anything that came between me and it."

Mostly, he resented Clare, the bewildered wife who had tried so hard to help. At first, Clare, now 33, had told herself she was getting paranoid about Kevin's drinking. Then she covered for him - making his excuses when he was too ill to work. But when it became commonplace for her to find vodka bottles hidden around the home and car, she tried to confront him. "I wouldn't hear that there was a problem," he remembers. "But when she went on, I did all the things you do. I said I'd only drink at the weekends. Then I blamed the lager. Then I said I wouldn't drink spirits. "We had huge rows. I remember telling her that I earned the money, and I paid the bills and if I wanted to drink I would bloody well drink. In fact, the more she wanted me to stop, the worse I got. "I started drinking at her. New York was like that. It was a case of 'alcoholic? I'll show you an alcoholic!' And off I went."

Clare finally walked out in 1998, the day after Kevin got out of hospital where he had been treated after collapsing in a pool of blood in the street. The improbable explanation at the time was that Kevin was suffering from some sort of infection. It was rumoured he might be epileptic. Some papers even reported that he has a possible brain tumour. "The truth was I had gone into involuntary detox. I'd promised Clare that I would stop drinking, but by that point my body was actually dependent on alcohol and the only way to come off it was under medical supervision.

"I remember it was a hot day. I went into a pub and had a Coke, then came out and lost it. "When the doctors explained what had happened to me, I was actually pleased. With the logic of the alcoholic, I took this as a sign that I needed drink to function. "As soon as I came out of hospital, I had one. Clare confronted me, and that was it. She left me."

It should really have been his biggest wake-up call. "This is going to sound dreadful, but I didn't care," he says. "I regarded Clare as just another thing coming between me and my pal. It was like a love affair with a bottle. Clare gave me this ultimatum, me or it - and I chose it. "Me having another woman would have been easier for her to handle. With the drink, there was no contest."

Kevin was now alone with his drink, and he hit the bottle hard for the rest of that week. But his behaviour was causing those around him to become desperately worried. " I thought I was fine. I had this weird notion that as long as I could get myself dressed in the morning, no one would notice," he says. "I was a maintenance drinker. I wouldn't binge drink, I'd just try to keep myself topped up. "It crept up over years, and never once did I think it had become a problem. "When I discovered the morning drink, I thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world. When you are a drinker, you feel s*** when you wake up. You have the shakes and the sweats, but one drink and you're Mr Confident again."

He was up and dressed, but had not had his usual morning vodka when one of Clare's friends from a self-help group arrived. Clare had hidden his car keys, worried that he `would drive when drunk. Her friend insisted that she would take him to work, and told him that she was going to confront his employers. "She said she wanted to get it sorted because I couldn't go on like this. I was in massive denial. I thought I was fine. "But on that journey, I made her stop at an off-licence. I threatened to jump out if she didn't. I bought a half-bottle of vodka and downed the lot in one go, in the car. "I don't even remember getting to work. I just remember the producer Brian Park leaning over me and saying, 'Get him to The Priory'."

But even as the Coronation Street bosses sat beside Kevin at a press conference, pledging their support in his battle to stop drinking, he was still planning his next drink. "There I was on the Six O'Clock news, telling the world I was an alcoholic and was going to get help. But I was lying. I had no intention of stopping. "When I woke up in the Priory, it was the lowest I have ever felt because I knew the game was over. "I'd love to say that I stopped drinking because I loved my wife or because my job was so important to me, but it's just not true. I'd even watched friends die through drink ... Kevin Lloyd from The Bill was a really good mate. But even that didn't stop me. I stopped drinking because I had no other choice.

"People think the Priory is a soft-touch, but it is anything but. I've heard people say that the Priory brainwashes you, but my brain needed washing. "I tried to resist. I told myself I was an actor. I thought I could fool them. But I couldn't, and they saw through me straight away."

The initial detox was excruciating. Kevin was given lithium to help his body get used to functioning without alcohol. But the longer-term treatment was equally difficult. "They made me keep a diary of my feelings," he recalls. "I found that so hard I can't tell you. I'd never ever shared what I was feeling with anyone."

Today, he is articulate, emotionally literate and calm. Yet he still doesn't quite understand how he crossed the line from being a happy drinker to a helpless drunk. "I don't know when it happened, but as my career went up and up, the drinking wasn't far behind. "A lot of people claim they know why I drank. Some say, 'It's the pressures of fame'. If only it was that simple. "Alcoholism is a disease. I drank because I was uneasy. I'd always felt alone in a crowd. I felt different. I, with my ego, thought it was because I was special. I was an actor and actors are supposed to stand out from the crowd. "But even when you are the centre of attention, you don't feel special inside. You are just a little boy. I was. I never got past that bit. I suffered from massive insecurity."

HE IS proud of the fact that he hasn't had a drink for five years. "I could probably have a pint with you and be very jolly. But I know what the end of the road would be. I've learned to play a tape in my head. And it always ends in death - physical, mental, spiritual. "Last week was a good example. I went to the Soap Awards. It was brill and I loved every minute of it. "But in the bar afterwards the champagne was flowing. I was tired, and I realised that it was dangerous for me. It's the sort of time I start thinking, 'Do I feel left out? Am I glum and boring? "Before, I would have had that drink to feel better, drunk until I fitted in. But this time, I just went back to my hotel and was in bed before midnight. And that is quite an achievement for me."

Like any recovering alcoholic, Kevin talks of taking one day at a time. He has also applied this philosophy to his marriage. "We've had to start all over again, Clare and I," he admits. "Luckily, she loved me enough to stick around. "But they warned me when I was going through rehab that I wasn't going to be the same person at the end of it - and I had to prepare myself for the fact that Clare might not like the sober Kevin Kennedy. Maybe I wouldn't like the sober Kevin Kennedy. "I'd spent so many years looking at life through the bottom of a glass. What would happen when that glass wasn't there any more?"

Alma's secret fear
19 May 2003
Amanda Barrie, best known to soap fans as Alma in Coronation Street, has revealed she lived in fear that the secret of her love life would be exposed.

During her time as one of the best known faces on British television the actress was constantly worried that news of her bisexuality would find its way onto the pages of the red-top tabloids. It was only after Alma breathed her last in June 2001 that Amanda felt confident enough to admit the truth in her autobiography. She told readers that although she had had male lovers - including a husband - she prefers women.

"I got into a terrible twist about everybody knowing about me. I was frightened," she told the TV Times. "I didn't do anything with the press the whole of the time I was in Coronation Street because people identify you with your part, and I didn't want to scare the viewers."

Amanda, who returns to our screens in ITV1's prison drama Bad Girls, first found fame playing Cleopatra in the British comedy Carry On Cleo.

Tracy's secret lover
18 May 2003 by Susie Boniface
CORONATION Street beauty Kate Ford goes to great lengths to pretend she's a single girl in real life. Only last week the actress who plays man-eater Tracy Barlow told the world: "There is no-one special in my life. I don't have a boyfriend at the moment. I've had serious relationships, but I'm not prepared to talk about them. I am not into kiss-and-tell."

But we've got some bad news for 25-year-old Kate's army of male fans. For the past five months she has been dating actor and model Alex Leigh. The pair are even in constant contact during the week while Kate films at Granada Studios in Manchester and Alex goes to auditions in London. A studio source said: "Kate works very hard and the hours are demanding but every spare minute she gets she's on the phone to him. "It's sad that she has to pretend to be single, but then that's the job for you."

Kate and Alex met when they studied together at the Webber Douglas stage school in London, along with mutual friend Stacey Roca, who starred in the last series of The Office. During breaks from filming Kate returns to London, where the two girls share a flat, but spends most of her time with Alex, 26 - now starring in a television advert for sanitary towels.

Kate, who earns £70,000 a year, burst on to TV screens in the New Year when she bedded corner shop owner Dev Alahan. She later discovered that Dev had also slept with her screen mum Deirdre. And when she found out he didn't want to marry her she took revenge by cutting up his designer wardrobe. In her latest storyline she sets her sights on wealthy pensioner Wally Bannister, who is romancing her granny Blanche after meeting her at a tea dance.

When approached by the Sunday Mirror Alex was reluctant to discuss his relationship with Kate. "I really can't say," he said. "I'm not allowed to. I'd like to, but sorry I can't say anything." He added: "I'm just trying to get work where I can and to make my living acting. "Whether it's theatre, television or film I'm not really fussed. "I just want to be employed as much as possible. I only got into acting because I was naughty and it was the only thing at school that held my attention."

However, he did reveal that he was the mystery man who accompanied Kate to the British Soap Awards, where she was nominated in the Sexiest Soap Actress category. He stayed in the background as Kate was photographed on the red carpet, returning to her side when safely inside.

Grim and bear it Bruno
18 May 2003
LOOKS like Corrie scruff BRUNO LANGLEY couldn't wait to return this suit after last week's British Soap Awards. The 20-year-old actor, who plays brainy Todd Grimshaw in the soap, seemed much happier in a trendy shirt, jeans and open-toed sandals when he dropped off the jacket and trousers at Moss Bros tailors in Manchester.

Bruno has been described as "one of the scruffiest people I know" by RYAN THOMAS, who plays Corrie bro- ther Jason. But he's always been fashionable with Sarah Louise Platt actress TINA O'BRIEN who plays his girlfriend on and off-screen.

Kevin Kennedy
FOOTBALL crazy Corrie star KEVIN KENNEDY even mows the lawn in his Man City kit. Kevin, who quit as Curly Watts on Thursday, says: "It drives my wife mad. She doesn't mind me wearing it for TV games but she's worried the neighbours will think I'm nuts if they see me in the garden."

John Savident
John Savident, alias Corrie landlord Fred Elliott, wants to host chat shows in a pub where celebs could finish with a sing-song round the piano. John says: "It would be fun and attract stars who don't normally appear on TV talk shows."

Andrew tells of bullying hell
18 May 2003
Coronation Street star Andrew Whyment has told how bullies made his life hell. The talented 22-year-old, who plays Kirk Sutherland in the soap, was picked on at school because he attended ballet and tap dancing lessons.

Andrew, who won the Best Comedy Performance prize at the British Soap Awards last week, suffered abuse and name calling at school in Manchester. Thugs also targetted his home, throwing stones at the windows, letting off fireworks and attacking his mum's car. His success in Coronation Street means he has finally triumphed over the bullies, he told the News of the World.

"There were lads who were constantly telling me to go and put my ballet shoes on or my pink leotard, stuff like that. "When you're a child it can be really upsetting. "I think it was jealousy because I was doing something with my life and they were hanging around on street corners."

Andrew appeared in bit parts before finding fame as Anthony Royle's best friend Darren in the Royle Family. His comedy partnership with Bruce Jones (Les Battersby) in the Street - where they have pretended to be gay to stop the council booting out Kirk - has proved a big hit with viewers.

He added: "I didn't want to let the bullies beat me and I just stuck it out. "Now, thankfully, I've done well."

Street's Curly in shock Corrie exit
17 May 2003 by Jenny Johnston and Claire Donnelly
FOR 20 years it was a ritual he was delighted to be part of. The taking of the annual cast photograph had always been a special event for Coronation Street actor Kevin Kennedy. It was a chance for the man known to the country as Curly Watts to reflect on a job well done and to feel proud of his place right at the heart of Britain's most successful soap. But as he lined up with his smiling colleagues on Thursday Kevin knew this year's pictorial record would be his last.

Just moments before the cast were summoned for the camera, the 41-year-old actor had been told - gently but firmly - that his character was getting the axe. Curly's fate, and Kevin's career, had been hanging in the balance since producer Kieran Roberts warned him six weeks ago that he could be laid off. This week, after an agonising wait, he was finally told his character would be written out of the show.

"I'd been told I was out of a job, fired, axed, whatever you want to call it," he explains, shrugging his shoulders and looking decidedly lost. "Then I had to come out and face everyone. That wasn't easy. "Initially, you feel ashamed. I'd worked with these people for 20 years. They were family - through the the good times and the bad. And I knew that I wasn't going to be a part of this anymore. It was awful. "As the cameras snapped, I stood there smiling but I had this overwhelming feeling that something momentous had just happened. "I was going to have to tell all these people that I was leaving and then I was going to have to go home and tell my wife that I had lost my job. And tell my mum and dad. How was I going to do that? "When I got the job on Corrie it meant more to my mum than anything else. I just didn't know what I was going to say."

It's fair to say the Kevin Kennedy who unburdened himself to the Daily Mirror yesterday was a man in coming to terms with shocking news. One of the most loveable losers in small screen history had just been dealt a real-life blow that anyone would find difficult to handle. "I had a bit of warning this was coming," he explains, still shaking his head. "But until yesterday there was still some hope. They'd told me they were thinking about where Curly would go from here. I suppose I still had hope. It is quite bleak when it becomes final.

IT ALL went flashing in front of my eyes on Thursday. As they were taking the picture, I was thinking to myself 'this is already out of date'. "In a way, I think I'm going through a bereavement, I am mourning. I suppose I feel like anyone would feel if they'd been made redundant after 20 years. You do wonder if you've done something wrong. You wonder where you go from here. You wonder how you can face people. It's scary."

It has been six weeks since Kevin had that warning that his job might not be as secure as he had hoped. "I've had the sleepless nights and the butterflies in the tummy. I was in denial for a while, not wanting to think about the worst. Then I tried bargaining with God. Then I accepted it. "I've been Curly for so long I've been panicking about what I'll do. It's been such a huge part of my life and the lives of everyone close to me. When I told my wife, Claire, I think we were in shock. We just sat there looking at each other."

As he sighs and smiles behind his trademark glasses, you wonder if Kevin is trying to make the best of a terrible situation. He joked about what the standard response to these sorts of questions are. He has even thought of trotting them out himself. But in the end, he's disarmingly honest. "I could say that I'm pursuing other options. I could say I'm reading scripts, I'm thinking about doing 'a little British film'. But actually the truth is that I haven't got a permanent job to go to. That's how I handled it with the rest of the cast when I finally told them. I could have gone and sobbed in the corner but I didn't. I came in and made a joke about it. I told them I would be available now to wash their cars."

Yet his face - lined and weary - tells the real story of how deeply this loss will be felt. Coronation Street was never just a job to Kevin Kennedy. It's been the one constant - from the early days as bin man to his doomed marriage to Raquel - in an astonishingly turbulent life. When he was being treated for alcoholism in The Priory Hospital in Hale, Cheshire, four years ago, it provided one of the few lights at the end of an extremely dark tunnel. "It gave me something to aim for," he explains. "In fact, Corrie saved my life. When I was drinking, I'd hit rock bottom and was close to losing everything. "The job gave me hope - all through my recovery I knew Curly was there waiting for me.

"Brian Park - the show's then-producer - literally saved my life and I'll always be grateful to him for that. He put me in a car and sent me off to The Priory and got me sorted out. "If he hadn't I would have been dead in six months. That's not an idol fantasy, that's just the way it was. "Things had got that bad. When I was low and drinking I didn't care about my career. I was seeing life through the bottom of a glass. "It became hard work but coming back to it sober was completely different. I saw it through new eyes and I really enjoyed it. I was lucky to get off that ladder with my marriage and job still there to rebuild. "A lot of people aren't that lucky and the bosses at Coronation Street helped me do that."

Many would understand if Kevin felt bitter about the way he has been "retired" from the job he so obviously loves. But he's adamant that he is not. "The people at Corrie have been there for me when I really needed them," he says. "To be honest, they would have been quite within their rights to sack me when I was drinking. If they had done then, I was so far gone I wouldn't have cared. "They don't owe me anything."

It took months of treatment and counselling to make Kevin the man he is today. Eloquent and sober, he picks his words carefully but is honest about the sort of future he's facing. "I have to find a life of my own now, away from Curly," he says. "I'd be the first to admit that won't be easy. In some ways, it's good that I'm facing this leap into the unknown, but in others it's terrifying."

Kevin admits that those close to him were worried that the pressure of being sacked could have pushed him back to the bottle. hen he arrived back at the Didsbury home he shares with Claire, 33, he called the counsellor who helped him battle his alcoholism. He explains: "We just talked through what had happened and what I felt about it. It was a great help because I'd had six weeks to think about it. I'd already mulled things over in my mind. "I dread to think how I would have reacted if this had happened while I was drinking. "My counsellor tells me I'm strong enough to handle this now, and I know I am. It's a measure of how far I've come that I can get through this. "I can honestly say having a drink is the last think I felt like doing when I heard the news. In a strange way it's when things are going well that you're most vulnerable - that's when you get complacent. "Before rehab, losing my job would have been everything. Now it's important but I can put it into perspective."

With just three months to go before Curly leaves Weatherfield, Kevin is still thinking about what he wants to do next. He's been in rock bands all his life and hasn't ruled out a move in that direction. And he has a theatre role lined up in Dublin for next January.

After that, there are no certainties. And you get the feeling Kevin likes certainties. "I try to be optimistic but I don't make grand plans these days, I prefer to take one day at a time. "I feel very lucky I've got this chance to do something different in a strange way. Maybe it's for the best because I would never have thought about leaving Corrie myself. "I've spent half my life in the Street so I've grown up with Curly and the parallels between our lives have got even closer - he's off to who knows where on a new adventure and, hopefully, so am I."

He shrugs, and peers through his fringe, trying so hard to remain up-beat. "After all, when I got the part in 1983 it was only meant to last for four episodes."

Bernard is Street's wrinkly Romeo
17 May 2003
Coronation Street's Bernard Cribbins says it's great being an OAP soaps sex symbol.

The veteran actor entered Weatherfield last week as retired millionaire Wally Bannister. Eyebrows will soon be raised when he becomes romantically linked with Tracy Preston (Kate Ford) who is young enough to be his grand-daughter.

It's a far cry from Bernard's best-loved role as stationmaster Albert in the Railway Children. He was also the voice of The Wombles in the 1970s. Bernard told the Daily Mirror's The Look magazine: "After Wally the lothario they'll be putting me up for all sorts of things - like Casanova! But I'm an OAP sex symbol already. It's why they cast me in the part because I am old and very sexy."

On his first day on set he had a special request from Wombles fan Angela Lonsdale, who plays Emma Watts. Bernard added: "She was pleading with me to 'do' Orinoco. It's like long range applause. Nobody says, 'Jolly good' at the time, but years later someone will come up and say, 'You did The Wombles, they were great', and get all silly."

He's considering asking his Carry On spying co-star Barbara Windsor how she handled becoming a soap star when she joined EastEnders. Bernard said: "Now and again I ring Barbara for a chat. So I might ask her, 'What do I do, Babs?"

Curly quits Corrie
16 May 2003 by Brian Roberts
CORONATION Street favourite Kevin Kennedy is quitting the soap after 20 years, it was announced yesterday. After talks with bosses the actor, who plays amiable councillor Curly Watts, drove out of the Manchester studios in his black open-top Porsche Boxster smiling. Asked if he chose to leave, he said: "The decision was a mutual one. I might be coming back next year."

The move comes after it emerged that Curly's on-screen wife Emma, played by Angela Lonsdale, would be leaving in the autumn. A Street source said: "Angela knew she was going to leave and was happy to do so. The first we knew about Kevin was lunchtime. We are perplexed. Curly is an integral part of life in Weatherfield. "Kevin has been told he can come back in the future - but the big question is 'Will they ever bring him back?'. "The whole thing came as a shock to the ordinary production people. Only a week ago they had read Kevin say he couldn't ask for more from his part in Coronation Street. "He and Angela were at this week's soap awards and both looked really happy. It really has set the gossipmongers going full pelt. Life in Weatherfield without Curly Watts is virtually unthinkable."

Angela, 32, had voiced concerns that she thought her character Emma was reaching the end of its shelf life after three years and bosses agreed. She said: "I really feel the time is right to move on." Scriptwriters have already planned Curly and Emma's exit with their baby son Ben. They will leave Weatherfield following Emma's involvement in fitting-up Les Battersby for assaulting PC Mick Hopwood- when he was really the victim.

Next week viewers will see her lie in court and disgusted Curly will give her an ultimatum on their marriage. Over the next two months Emma decides to move away leaving Curly to chose between her or Weatherfield.

In a statement, recovering alcoholic Kevin said: "I have been wanting to take some time to pursue some new exciting projects and this gives me the ideal opportunity. "I have been in discussions with Kieran Roberts, the producer, and we decided that this would work for everyone concerned. I look forward to playing Curly again in the future." Sources insisted Kevin wanted to pursue his music career.

But only recently he spoke of his Street role with great fondness. He said: "Curly's gone from being a hopeless binman to a politician. As an actor, I couldn't ask for more."

Norman "Curly" Watts, who earnt his nickname from his straight hair, arrived on the Street as a dustman lodging with Emily Bishop. His education, qualification and hobby of astronomy marked him out as a misfit. After a course in business studies he was taken on by Bettabuys supermarket where he rose through the ranks.

But it was Curly's failed love affairs and compassion which captured fans hearts. After numerous knock-backs he eventually married his great love Raquel Wolstenhulme, Sarah Lancashire, only to see her leave him for a job in Malaysia. She returned for a one-off episode to tell Curly she wanted a divorce and that he had a three-year-old daughter, Alice, in France. Later that year he married Emma.

Producer Kieran Roberts said: "There is a huge amount of affection for a character of such long standing as Curly and therefore we are reluctant to say goodbye permanently."

An official Street statement said Curly's earliest possible return would be "some time next year", but one executive said: "The show is going from strength to strength and Kieran Roberts and his boss Carolyn Reynolds have taken all the plaudits for that. "But they are shrewd enough to know that a winning formula cannot stand still. "There will be rumours over what the real story is behind it all. No doubt Kevin will want to tell all at some stage."

Kevin fought a battle with the booze five years ago. With support from bosses and wife Claire, 31, he steered himself away from the bottle and now helps alcoholics in Manchester.

Hattersley's tribute to Curly
16 May 2003 by Roy Hattersley
I'VE enjoyed Kevin Kennedy's work so much that I would hate to prejudice his prospects. But he has played his character with such strength that I fear I shall always think of him as Curly Watts.

When I saw Kevin a couple of years ago he said he could not possibly imagine wanting to change jobs and had never considered if there was life after Coronation Street. Personally I always thought Curly was too high minded for his own good. The discovery that his wife had helped to "fit up" Les Battersby - pretending that he assaulted the police when he was a victim of police violence - was bound to play on his conscience to a point where he could bear it no longer. Anyone who had been so decent about Raquel's desertion was bound to find the burden of guilt too heavy to bear.

One way or another he was bound to shake the dust of Weatherfield off his feet. In truth, he never did fit in. He was a graduate in a community of early school leavers.

He looked out of place during his brief dustman period. If he had stayed the best that could have been hoped for him was that he became a Ken Barlow Mark II. He would have escaped marrying Deirdre but even without either her or her mother it would have been a living death. All he could have looked forward to would have been a pint in the Rovers Return and another of Betty's hot pots while his ambitious wife studied for her inspector's examination.

His character changed over the years. So did his hairstyle. When he tried to slick down his defining characteristic he was one of the boys - football with Kevin and Martin on a Saturday afternoon and a good booze up with Des before he realised that it was Des who Raquel really loved. Now he has become a house husband. Not only does he stay at home to look after the baby, he has grown broody for another. If he had gone on, Hayley's would not have been the only sex-change in the Street.

As it is he goes to a better life - probably in more salubrious suburbs, for there are few more down market locations than Coronation Street. Manchester City are safe in the Premiership so Kevin Kennedy can look forward to a winter of pleasure both on and off the screen.

Viewers tune in to Street's coronation
15 May 2003 by Claire Cozens
Nearly 9 million viewers tuned in to ITV last night to watch the station's most popular show, Coronation Street, sweep the board at the British Soap Awards.

More than one in three viewers - 8.7 million - watched the cast of EastEnders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and Emmerdale compete for 16 awards including best storyline and villain of the year - a walkover for actor Brian Capron, who played serial killer Richard Hillman. Coronation Street also picked up best soap award in the annual soap-fest, presented this year by Des O'Connor and Melanie Sykes.

The two-hour show easily beat the Hollywood blockbuster Entrapment, which attracted 5.2 million viewers to BBC1 according to unofficial overnights.

Street 'pals' are real trial for Les
14 May 2003
THESE are the last people Corrie hothead Les Battersby needs supporting him in court. Deirdre Rachid had Prime Minister Tony Blair speaking up for her in the Commons during the ITV soap's original Free The Weatherfield One storyline a few years ago. Yet Les has to make do with daft lodger Kirk and potty Fiz - wearing "Les Is Innocent" T-shirts - to back him in court.

Les is accused of battering the policeman boyfriend of his estranged wife Janice. He - and the viewers - know it was copper Mick who laid into the lippy cabbie, then got colleague Emma Watts to lie for him. But Les's worst supporter in court is himself. Instead of arguing his case, he ends up admitting he had often wanted to give Mick a good kicking.

Actor Bruce Jones, who plays Les, says: "Les's problem is he doesn't know when to keep quiet and starts mouthing off. "With his outburst, he signs his own guilty verdict."

But the question for viewers is, will Emma come clean and save him from jail?

Emma quits police to save marriage
14 May 2003
Coronation Street's Emma Watts is to quit the police force to save her marriage.

The PC, played by Angela Lonsdale, will shock her husband Curly (Kevin Kennedy) when she lies in court to stop a colleague getting sacked. The couple have a blazing row after Emma reveals she's going to get promoted to inspector after her testimony. A Street insider told The Daily Star: "Curly is absolutely horrified. He can't believe what his wife has done. He's disgusted that she'd stoop so low."

Emma lies to save policeman Mick Hopwood, who carried out a vicious attack on Les Battersby (Bruce Jones). Emma, who witnessed the incident, tells the court that Les started the bust-up in the middle of the road. The insider told the paper: "Curly tells her that she can only save her marriage now by giving up her career completely. She must realise that she's done something very wrong and cannot continue working for the police force."

Emma announces her decision to quit the force at a surprise 40th birthday party for Curly. She decides that Curly and her son Ben are more important than her career.

Samia toasts Woolpack regulars
14 May 2003
Regulars at the Woolpack might not believe their eyes when a star from a rival soap drops into the bar.

Coronation Street's Samia Ghadie will pop on to the Emmerdale set as part of a tour of Britain. Samia, who plays Maria Sutherland, is flying around the country encouraging people to go online. She's hopped on a helicopter to promote Granada's It For Life and the UK online Get Started campaigns. Samia will be giving away laptop computers at points around Britain.

Samia told the Daily Star: "I've always fancied the glamour life. This will be a world away from Weatherfield." She will leave the Corrie set and fly to Norwich, Southampton, London, Newcastle and Carlisle before completing her tour in Yorkshire on the Emmerdale set.

Ashley set for rollercoaster romance
13 May 2003
Lonely Ashley Peacock is heading for a new Coronation Street romance - but it is going to end in tears, it has been revealed.

Ashley, played by Steve Arnold, has been on his own since wife Maxine was murdered by evil Richard Hillman, but his son's new nanny is set to cheer him up. The butcher's boy is falling for Claire Casey after first sacking her and then changing his mind - and she will return his affections. But the romance will come to an abrupt halt when Ashley finds out Claire has a boyfriend, and he turns up on his doorstep to warn him off.

A Corrie source told the Daily Star: "Viewers will be delighted for Ashley when they see him smiling again after months of grieving for Maxine. "At first it's all hearts and flowers, with Claire fussing about the house, cooking him meals and spending every spare moment there. "But before they even share a kiss his world falls apart when he discovers she has a boyfriend who is really jealous."

The insider added: "It will be a classic case of unrequited love for Ashley. "He eventually ends up back where he started - sad and miserable."

What does Brian do now?
13 May 2003 by Simon Holden
It is decision time for Brian Capron. The man who made evil killer Richard Hillman the most recognised face in soap has some tough choices ahead. Brian, 54, has been flooded with acting offers but shrugging off a psychopath is not easy.

TV Plus met him at the British Soap Awards on Saturday night after he collected an unprecedented five trophies. "I don't know what is next. I've had an awful lot of offers and I'm looking at a lot of things," he reveals. "It will be a TV series and up to the networks. It will be an important step. I've never been in this position before. The next thing I do may be more like me."

He had the scariest stare in TV but the ex-Corrie star wants to leave his soap character behind. "I don't want to play a psychopath again," he says. "In one sense I don't think I'll ever shake off Richard Hillman. But I hope people accept me for other work, I'm not really worried about it. I've been an actor for 30 years and as soon as they see me in another role they might start forgetting about Richard."

No-one knew just how Richard Hillman would take off in The Street. As the character developed Brian had created a rod for his own back. "When I finished my head was like scrambled eggs because I had so many lines to learn," he says. "I had a relentless storyline with over 200 episodes in just 18 months. I was practically going crazy by the end but it was like being a runner where you are driving for the finishing line."

Brian will never forget one episode he dominated. "My abiding memory would have to be doing the two-hander with Helen Worth [Gail]," he tells TV Plus. That was a huge compliment to us. That was the episode of all time for me. It was brilliantly written because we all knew Richard was a psychopath, but the writer made us think 'maybe she is still going to go along with him'. He told Gail everything in that episode."

Playing Richard took a toll on Brian's family. The actor, who lives in Brighton, stayed in Manchester during filming. He told TV Plus: "It was a strain and my family are glad I'm back. But hey, I'm an actor who is in work. "To get a boost like that so late in my career was brilliant. I've always worked but I've been a jobbing actor all my career. I may not ever get such good writing again."

ITV1's desperation to hold on to ratings has seen Corrie going out four times a week. Like some other actors Capron was not a lover of the genre. "I was quite cynical about soaps — before I went in and had to do them. But we often did the equivalent of one and a half feature films a week. "It's a miracle it gets done to be honest and that the standard of writing and acting is maintained."

Tricky Dicky's hitch
13 May 2003
Corrie's former psycho Brian Capron let slip his wedding plans at the Soap Awards after-show party. The 55-year-old actor, who played serial killer Tricky Dicky Hillman, told 3am he can't wait to get hitched to long-term lover Jacqueline Bucknell , 41. "It's in June. It's all set but I don't think we are going all traditional. I've seen the wedding rings and they are fab," he told us on Saturday night at BBC TV Centre after he scooped five awards. "We are holding the ceremony in Wales. Everyone is going to have a great holiday there as well. There is no other reason why it should be there, but it's a place we have always liked, and it will be easier for Corrie people to get to."

Jacqueline says: "Brian will be in floods of tears. He'll never get through his vows, he is too sentimental. He can't even watch Little House On The Prairie without crying. He'll be a real weeper on the day."

Dev to marry
12 May 2003 by Brian Roberts
CORONATION Street Romeo Dev Alahan is to call time on his womanising and marry. And his shock choice of bride is his cornershop girl Sunita Parekh. The couple are heading for a helter-skelter romance which ends with them planning a traditional Hindu wedding.

Street bosses highly rate actor Jimmi Harkishin and his co-star Shobna Gulati. And their wedding - the first Asian marriage in the soap's 42-year history - will make them one the show's established couples. A production source said: "The lead up to Dev's wedding proposal is a terrific piece of scriptwriting. "Who on earth would think that Dev was going to settle down - particularly with Sunita, who he has cruelly spurned in the past? "It all happens very quickly and we reckon their sudden love and relationship will be yet another massive turn-on for the viewers."

Both actors are said to be delighted at the storyline, which begins in a couple of weeks. After arriving in Weatherfield in 1999 Dev quickly established himself as a ladies' man. At one stage he was going to marry Rovers barmaid Geena Gregory (Jennifer James). She dumped him after Karen McDonald (Suranne Jones) bet her she could bed him - and managed to pull him. Dev was stalked by ex-girlfriend Amy Goskirk (Jane Ashbourne). He also had a fling with Debs Brownlow (Gabrielle Glaister), the sister of then Rovers boss Natalie Barnes (Denise Welch). He bedded Deirdre Rachid (Anne Kirkbride) then slept with her daughter Tracy (Kate Ford). When he ditched her, she cut up his sharp suits and went on a spending spree with his credit card.

The Street insider said of the new storyline: "Dev goes to India for a holiday and while there he experiences a life-changing experience. "He goes to an uncle's funeral where all the talk is about how his uncle's wife and kids looked after him and nursed him through his illness and how they loved him. "Dev begins to realise none of the women he has ever dated would have looked after him in that way and that he has only got stuck with girls he describes as 'suit wreckers and pregnancy fakers'. "He returns to Weatherfield determined to settle down. He realises he is nearly 40 and wants some kind of stability in his life - someone he can rely on, have kids with and be content with."

Dev realises Sunita is the woman he needs. But he faces an uphill battle in wooing her because of his history as a womaniser. Shocked Sunita can hardly believe what she is hearing when he asks her out on a date. He fails to show up, making her think he is up to his old tricks. And when he finally proposes, she is angry he hasn't told her he loves her first. But after much agonising and heartache, she finally believes he is sincere and agrees to wed.

Street's Nicky in porn row
11 May 2003
CORRIE stunner Nicky Ladanowski had a showdown with Street bosses after it was discovered she posed for steamy topless photos at just FIFTEEN. Nicky, 27, admitted modelling in a white corset, stilettos and black G-string for the snaps which surfaced last week. But, because she was underage, it is illegal for anyone to publish them. And a spokesman for show-makers Granada said: "The matter is between her and the photographer and nothing to do with us."

Nicky - the ex-school sweetheart of former Take That star Gary Barlow - plays blonde temptress Merle Jackson, who is about to cause a storm by wooing lover Tony Stewart's son Jason. Last night her agent's spokesman refused to comment. But Manchester-based photographer Jim Carter said: "If Nicky was underage then she would have signed the model release form illegally."

Jings, Cribbins!
11 May 2003 by Billy Sloan
CORRIE schemer Tracy Preston just can't wait to get her hands on the assets of the Street's latest star - telly veteran Bernard Cribbins. Tracy (Kate Ford) turns on the charm when she finds out Bernard's character, Wally Bannister, is minted. But she has a rival - her gossiping grandmother Blanche Hunt (Maggie Jones), who met Wally at a tea dance.

Bernard, 74, who joins the Corrie cast this week, said: "Wally is an ageing lothario who's made his fortune in the haulage business. He fancies himself as a bit of a ladies' man - lives in a big house and drives around in a flash Mercedes. Basically, he's on the pull. "He's introduced to Blanche by her old love interest, Archie Shuttleworth, the undertaker - played by Roy Hudd. "But Tracy suddenly thinks she might be able to get her hands on, ahem, his money."

Weatherfield is another landmark in Bernard's 60-year acting career. He's been the voice of The Wombles, fought The Daleks in Dr Who and caused mayhem with the Carry On team. He won his first movie role in The Yangtse Incident in 1957 and never looked back. His amazing list of screen credits features some of the biggest names in the business.

He appeared with the legendary Peter Sellers in Two Way Stretch (1960), The Wrong Arm Of The Law (1962) and Casino Royale (1967). "Peter was a smashing fella," said Bernard, "great to work with and you could see he was becoming a great character actor." Bernard also joined the Carry On comedy team with roles in Carry On Jack (1963), Carry On Spying (1964) and Carry On Columbus (1992). "I have very fond memories of those first two," said Bernard. "In Carry On Spying, a young actress got her first big break and went on to have a successful career, too. It was Barbara Windsor."

One of Bernard's fondest memories was when he played the role of a bad- tempered publican in the 1972 Alfred Hitchcock thriller Frenzy. He said: "It was near the end of his career but Hitch was an extraordinary man, with a wicked sense of humour. He loved limericks... especially dirty ones." Bernard was also in The Avengers (1966), Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD (1966) and The Railway Children (1970).

In 1962, he even enjoyed a brief spell as a pop star with three Top 20 novelty hits... Hole In The Ground, Right Said Fred and Gossip Calypso. But no conversation with Bernard would be complete without mention of the kids' BBC TV series The Wombles. He provided the voices for now- legendary characters such as Uncle Bulgaria, Tobermory and Orinoco. "I did the voices and tried to give each character an identity of his own," said Bernard. "Uncle Bulgaria was like a sergeant major and the rest were squaddies."

Bernard is thrilled to be on Corrie. He said: "It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. The bonus is, I get to work alongside all these beautiful girls like Suranne Jones (Karen McDonald), Sally Whittaker (Sally Webster) and Kate."

Bernard lives in London with his wife Gill, who has Scots roots in Ballantrae, Ayrshire. "A lot of people think I'm dead," he joked. "My 60 years as an actor have flown past."

Nine osCors!
11 May 2003
CORONATION Street scooped a stunning NINE of the British Soap Awards last night. And Brian Capron, who plays Corrie killer Richard Hillman, won a record FIVE - the most ever gained by one actor in the five-year history of the ceremony.

The Street's stunners, including Nikki Sanderson, paraded plunging necklines as their show cleaned up after getting only one award last year. Arch-rivals EastEnders trailed in with three - the same number as Brookside. And Emmerdale - with actress Amy Nuttall matching the Corrie girls for glamour - collected one.

As Brian, 54, hugged his wife Jacqueline, he said: "It's amazing." One fan said: "This success is long overdue. Corrie storylines have been far more exciting than EastEnders this year and they deserve every award they got." The only consolation for the Walford team was that Kacey Ainsworth (Little Mo) got Best Actress for the second year.

Even the Street girls' dresses were more exciting than those of EastEnders. A fan at the BBC Television Centre in London said: "I was here last year and Jessie Wallace seeemed like she was wearing an identical top.

Andy Wyman
CORRIE'S ANDY WYMAN says playing loveable rogue Kirk Sutherland has turned him into a magnet for weirdos". He moans: "I never attract pretty girls, just loonies and oddballs. I was having a drink when this bloke tried to invite himself back to my place for dinner. That was too much, even for me."

Girls bag bargains
CORRIE cuties NIKKI SANDERSON and TINA O'BRIEN enjoyed a quick break - and a shake - on a marathon shopping session. The girls, both 19, are pals on and off screen so Nikki was happy to wait while her thirsty co-star slurped a milkshake at Manchester's Deansgate centre this week.

Earlier, Nikki, who plays tearaway Candice Stowe, and Tina, who stars as young mum Sarah-Louise Platt, had been hunting for dresses to wow the crowds at last night's British Soap Awards. Judging by her huge shopping bag, Nikki also found an outfit to go with those suede boots. Bet it'll look good down the Rovers, chuck.

Dicky slays 'em
11 May 2003 by Steve Hendry
CORRIE star Brian Capron slayed them at the British Soap Awards last night. He collected a record five trophies thanks to serial killer Tricky Dicky. Brian, who brilliantly played Street psycho Richard Hillman, won Best Actor, Best Villain, Best Exit, Spectacular Scene of the Year and Best Storyline.

He was booed by the crowds outside as he arrived but had the last laugh inside. Brian said: "I wasn't even aware I was up for five awards. They're not just about me, they're about everybody else in the show. "Best Villain was the one I'd hoped I'd win but to win Best Actor is just gobsmacking. "Normally when people vote for actors in soap they go for EastEnders. This means Coronation Street has lifted itself up, shaken itself down and is back in the game." He paid tribute to the cast members he attacked on his murderous rampage, including hairdresser Maxine, screen wife Gail and kids Sarah, David and Bethany and said: "I have had a great two years on Corrie. It's been fantastic. "I don't think I could have chosen a nicer job at this time in my career."

Corrie slaughtered EastEnders by nine awards to three. Walford's winners were Shane Richie for Sexiest Male, Jessie Wallace for Sexiest Female for the second year and Kacey Ainsworth for Best Actress.

The night lived up to its glam image with acres of flesh on show. Corrie stunners Suranne Jones, Sally Lindsay and Angela Lonsdale arrived together in figure- hugging black outfits. Suranne was breathtaking in a see-through chiffon kimono-style dress with hot pants. Samia Gahadie - Corrie's Maria Sutherland - was a sparkling contrast in white mini- skirt and top. Sexiest couple EastEnders Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace arrived together. But Jessie appeared to make the ultimate fashion faux pas by wearing the same black dress as last year.

Dicky's in demand
10 May 2003
BRIAN CAPRON may be one of the most hated men in soap, but he's still laughing all the way to the bank. The man who ignited the screen as Corrie's Richard Hillman, is caught in a £1.8million tug of war between ITV and the BBC. It seems ITV bosses were planning a spin-off show for the evil character, but BBC are determined to poach him. May the best TV company win...

Street sweeps soap awards
10 May 2003

Coronation Street has stolen the show at this year's Soap Awards, winning nine prizes. The ITV show won Best Soap for the first time in three years at the ceremony at BBC Television Centre in London.

Actor Brian Capron, who played serial killer Richard Hillman, swept the board scooping the most prizes won by any individual in the ceremony's five-year history. He won five titles - Villain of the Year, Best Exit, Best Storyline, Spectacular Scene of the Year and Best Actor award.

Worth said: "Spectacular scene ... spectacular directing. It was a fantastic episode to be a part of. The crew were sensational and we did it!" Capron, picking up his prize for Villain of the Year, paid tribute to those cast members that his on-screen character killed and tried to kill. He said: "I have had a great two years on Corrie. It's been fantastic. I don't think I could have chosen a nicer job at this time in my career. I would just like to say thank you very much indeed."

Nearly 20 million viewers tuned in to see his character confess to his killing spree. A total of 19.4 million people watched his outpouring of his guilt to wife Gail, played by Helen Worth. And an average of 17.6 million viewers watched the murder of hairdresser Maxine Peacock.

Fellow Corrie star Andrew Whyment won Best Comedy Performance with his portrayal of Kirk Sutherland. And Sue Nicholls, who plays Audrey Roberts, won Best Dramatic Performance and Hero of the Year. Whyment was almost overcome with emotion as he collected his award. He said: "I'm absolutely made up and I think I'm going to cry. It took me 14 years to get here." He thanked his fellow cast members and his parents and added: "If it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here today, so thank you very much."

After receiving the award, Nicholls asked: "Is it a song you want?" She added: "I've longed to do that. It's a wonderful gag. "A hero ... oh goodness. What did I do? Well we did a scene but they cut it. I dived in beautifully in a one-piece swimsuit and saved them all." She said that she had had the most fantastic time filming the scenes of Richard Hillman's demise. "It is known that I adore every single actor at Coronation Street. Helen Worth - she's my dearest daughter on screen and off and she deserves all the awards for what she has done," she continued. "Thank you everybody. Thank you to all those who voted for me and, of course, I will pay you later."  

While EastEnders was left disappointed in the awards stake for best soap, its new arrival Shane Ritchie won sexiest male for his portrayal of Queen Vic pub manager Alfie Moon. And Jessie Wallace picked up Sexiest Female for the second year running for her portrayal of Kat. Co-star Kacey Ainsworth won Best Actress for the second consecutive year for her performance as Little Mo Slater, becoming the first actress to win the category twice.

The Soap Awards, presented by daytime chat show duo Des O'Connor and Melanie Sykes, will be screen on 14 May on ITV1 at 8:00pm

British Soap Awards 2003 winners in full:

• Sexiest male - Shane Ritchie (EastEnders).
• Sexiest female - Jessie Wallace (EastEnders).
• Comedy performance - Andrew Whyment (Coronation Street).
• Spectacular scene - Coronation Street for villain Richard Hillman's confession of murders.
• Best newcomer - Jack McMullen (Brookside).
• Best onscreen partnership - Jack McMullen who plays Josh McLoughlin and Sarah White who plays his mother Bev (Brookside).
• Best dramatic performance - Sue Nicholls (Coronation Street).
• Villain of the year - Brian Capron (Coronation Street).
• Hero of the year - Sue Nicholls (Coronation Street).
• Best storyline - Coronation Street for plot involving serial killer Richard Hillman
• Best exit - Brian Capron (Coronation Street).
• Special achievement award - Dean Sullivan for his 17 years playing Jimmy (Brookside).
• Best single episode - Emmerdale for Marlon and Trisha's failed wedding day plans.
• Best actor - Brian Capron (Coronation Street).
• Best actress - Kacey Ainsworth (EastEnders).
• Best British soap - Coronation Street.

Corrie cop Emma so glad to be sad
10 May 2003 by Paul English
WHEN Coronation Street pulled in 17million viewers for the Tricky Dicky storylines, the writers immediately became victims of their own success. Their sensational scripts sent viewing figures soaring and left Corrie head and shoulders above EastEnders in the soap wars. But when you reach the top, there's only one way to go - down.

So how do the men with the pens keep Weatherfield ahead of the game when it comes to keeping the viewers glued to the screen? Corrie copper Angela Lonsdale reckons her upcoming storyline will ensure that ratings don't take a post- Hillman nosedive. "Effectively, she's risking everything here," says Angela of her character Emma, whose involvement in the forthcoming Les Battersby trial will keep viewers gripped. Will she do the right thing and grass on her corrupt colleague Mick, or will she cave in to peer pressure? "She's in a no-win situation and it'll get worse," says Angela. "It's causing great upheaval in her marriage and it could ruin her career. It's fantastically well written."

But with Dirty Den back in rival EastEnders, surely Corrie could consider the return of an oldie to keep ahead of the BBC1 soap? Angela certainly has her favourites. "My favourite character was always Hilda Ogden when I was growing up," she says, agreeing that a Hilda return would be a Weatherfield sensation. "Hilda was just the best. I met Jean Alexander a while back, and have had some lovely chats with her - she's just so special. "She advised me about my career and told me not to stay in the soap forever. She talked lots about The Street and how things have changed since she was in it. "I was completely awe-struck and that doesn't happen very often."

In reality, there's more chance of Saddam Hussein pulling pints in the Rovers Return than Jean Alexander gracing the cobblestones again. But then again, Julie Goodyear was able to manage a comeback last year. "It would be great wouldn't it?" says Angela hopefully. "A one-off appearance from Hilda."

Angela, though, is confident viewing figures will remain healthy anyway as she prepares herself for a storyline that would have old Hilda, pictured right, up in arms - a bent copper getting away with it. The forthcoming court case sees Emma risk her career and her marriage, as straight-and-narrow Curly lets her know he's far from impressed with her behaviour. "She makes up her mind that she's going to tell the truth, but then changes it because she realises she'll get it off all her workmates for being a grass. "The way Emma looks at it, you can't let another officer down and the police all have to stick together," she says. "Even then, if she did, she'd have to admit to falsifying a statement - and she doesn't want to do that either because she'll probably lose her job. "Basically, she thinks you should stand by people because it was just one genuine mistake, and yes, he did do a bad thing. "But Mick's not really a dodgy cop. He has commendations for rescuing people from burning houses and for getting a guy who got a knife out in front of a class of children."

Ironically, Emma lands a promotion not long after the court event. "She gets called in by her boss and thinks the s***'s going to hit the fan, but instead he winds up giving her a promotion," reveals Angela. A bent copper is hardly as sensational as a local murderer and - as Angela rightly points out - is certainly part of everyday reality for some people. "It's funny, because one of the extras came up to me during filming and explained that he used to be a copper. "He told me this sort of thing can happen. I'm just an actor, but that's what the guy said. It makes you think."

Some say the part of Emma doesn't exactly lend itself to racy storylines, especially when you consider she's a policewoman married to Curly Watts. But Angela is happy enough with what's being asked of her. "I've had some big, heavy scenes to do recently," she says. "We've been able to go on a real emotional journey and it's been great to play. "Being in a soap is like being back in rep theatre, because one week you're the lead, the next week you're in the background. But there's lots of crying coming up, lots of drama for me. "I find it quite easy to get the tears going," she says. "If something's well written, then I fill up just reading it. If it's believable, then you get sad, which makes it easy to play."

Angela made news in the gossip columns earlier this year at the TV Baftas, when she was spotted chatting to her old flame, EastEnders actor Perry Fenwick. The couple split after four years last year and she can't believe their chat sparked rumours of a reconciliation. "We're not back together at all, but we're the best of friends," she says. However, she's gracious enough to confess that, should Brian Capron (Tricky Dicky) somehow miss out on this week's Best Actor gong at the Soap Awards, then Perry should take the accolade. She also reserves praise for Natalie Cassidy (Sonia Jackson) in the rival BBC soap: "She's utterly brilliant, and she's still so very young."

But, let's face it - after the year Corrie's had, Angela has no need to be magnanimous. The soap is odds-on to pick up gongs in the Best Storyline, Best Single Episode and Spectacular Scene of The Year category - at least.

Angela trained at Glasgow's RSAMD between 1988 and 1991, claiming she "didn't want to leave the city, but had to for work". Twelve years after graduating, she still reckons she's learning her trade from the Corrie veterans around her. "I learn so much from being around people like Helen Worth (Gail) and Sue Nicholls (Audrey). "Helen's my confidante and Sue is always very complimentary about me too. She'll say something really nice to me, and I'll be like: `Oh my God ... I've watched you for years'."

Sue, of course, played the perma-sneezing Miss Popov, who unwittingly teleported herself with sneezes in Rentaghost on kids' TV in the '70 and '80s. Angela remembers it well. But Sue's not the only childhood hero she's teaming up with, now that Bernard Cribbins has joined the cast. "I let it slip to Kevin Kennedy (Curly) that I was a huge fan of The Wombles, which Bernard did the voices for," she explains. "Orinoco was always my favourite. "We were sitting in The Rovers between shoots, and Kevin says to Bernard, `Will you do Angela a quick Orinoco?' "Which he did, of course. So there I was in the Rovers with Bernard Cribbins doing Wombles voices especially for me. How amazing is that?"

Fairly, Angela. But let us know when you've seen Sue Nicholls pop from her house to the Rovers on the back of a sneeze. Now that really would be something worth bragging about.

Corrie Sally pregnant at 40
9 May 2003 by Brian Roberts
CORONATION Street star Sally Whittaker is expecting her third baby at the age of 40. She is due in November and the good news has stunned soap chiefs, who must now find a way of writing her temporarily out of the show.

A Corrie source said yesterday: "We have only just found out at the studios and it caught us by surprise. "Sally and her husband Tim are absolutely thrilled. She is a great mum and thinks the absolute world of her two kids. "I suppose a third addition will complete their family."

The actress, who has played hard-working mum Sally Webster for the past 17 years, will probably take three months off after giving birth. She is also expected to quit Corrie around six weeks beforehand.

On screen, Sally and husband Kevin (Michael Le Vell) also have two children - Rosie, 13, and Sophie, eight - played by Helen Flanagan and Emma Woodward. The couple are currently having a nightmare trying to control Rosie. The teenage tearaway has had her belly-button pierced, ran off to Birmingham to take part in a pop idol contest, and is even unhappy with her out-dated mobile phone.

Off screen, Sally's life appears much calmer. She is married to scriptwriter Tim Dynevor and has two children, Phoebe, eight, and son Sam, six. But unlike Sally and garage mechanic Kev, who struggle to make ends meet in their terraced house, Sally and Tim live in a fabulous home in a posh Cheshire suburb. They have also bought a lakeland hideaway as a retreat from their hectic schedules. Sally fell in love with the place in the Lake District, Cumbria, while filming there.

But, despite the wealthier lifestyle, the actress feels she has plenty in common with her character. She said: "She and I are pretty alike. Our children are at the centre of our worlds, we both believe in love, marriage and all that old-fashioned stuff. Marriage is wonderful. "Tim and I lived together for about six years before we got married, but as soon as I became pregnant with Phoebe, marriage became important to me. I wanted us to be a family unit."

Coronation Street bosses will make a decision in the next month or so on how Sally should "disappear". Our source added: "As usual we shall set our scriptwriters the task of creating a suitable exit for the character which we hope will also help our ratings."

Bill Tarmey burns Corrie studio
9 May 2003 by Brian Roberts
STREET star Bill Tarmey left bosses fuming yesterday after setting his dressing room on fire with a cigarette end.

The heavy smoker, who plays Jack Duckworth, had failed to stub it out properly in a bin. And after everyone had left Granada's Manchester studios, it set the whole room ablaze. Thanks to a firedoor and insulation it did not spread and burned out when oxygen was used up. But shocked cleaners found a "blackened mess".

A Street insider said: "There was a stench of smoke everywhere. "People were angry, saying the whole place could have gone up and the bosses weren't happy."

Bill, 62, has repeatedly refused to quit his 40-a-day habit despite serious heart problems. Last year he had a second bypass op. Granada confirmed the incident but refused to comment.

Character joy for Corrie s Karen
9 May 2003
Corrie firecracker Suranne Jones loves her life on the Street. The stunning star is winning rave reviews in her role as Karen McDonald and she couldn't be happier with her character's development.

In recent weeks Karen has been at the centre of the action in the Street - being forced to choose between her cheating husband Steve and bad boy boss Joe Carter. The storyline has kept fans hooked and, as Karen and her new beau prepare to make more mischief, Suranne can't believe her luck.

The brunette beauty credits her low-key entrance into the show as the reason the character has blossomed. Suranne said: "I've been lucky because when I arrived I was just one of Linda Baldwin's factory friends. There was no pressure on me. I was able to feel my way into the role, and viewers gradually became more aware of her. "When they told me that after the Richard Hillman storyline finished that Karen would be at the centre of the next big one, I was hugely flattered. I still didn't believe it until I got my scripts and they were pages long - but I love it."

Suranne is also competing for two gongs at this weekend's British Soap Awards - Sexiest Female and Best On-Screen Partnership (with Street hubby Simon Gregson). And the Corrie wildcat knows which award she wants to take home. She said: "I'm so thrilled about the Best On-Screen Partnership nomination. It means a lot more to me than the Sexiest Female because the acting is what you want to be recognised for."

Soap star Chris is voted out
8 May 2003
Soap actor Chris Bisson left the remote Australian camp following a close vote by viewers of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! The former Coronation Street star looked nervous as presenters Ant and Dec said the vote was between him and TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson.

As the result was announced, Chris looked slightly surprised and set about saying his goodbyes to the other contestants. He had earlier pleaded with viewers to vote for him so he could stay on the ITV1 show and improve his cricket skills with the help of sportsman Phil Tufnell. Just seven celebrities remain in the camp after the earlier departures of weathergirl Sian Lloyd and Danniella Westbrook. Former EastEnder's star Danniella, who played Sam, walked out after saying she feared her recovery from cocaine addiction would suffer.

After leaving the basic jungle dwelling that has been his home for nearly two weeks, Chris told Ant and Dec the experience had been a lot harder than he had anticipated. "It was hard and the first week was really hard just because there's no food - just getting used to it, no toxins, no tea, no coffee, no booze ... your whole body changes and it hurts," he said.

Asked whether there was ever anything between him and model Catalina, being the only two single people in camp, Chris said there was never any hint of romance. The actor said the so-called "clique" in the group between Antony, Phil and Linda Barker did not bother him. "It wasn't an issue for me because I spoke to them all individually. I do see them being good friends but I get on with them all ... they didn't make me feel not part of the group," he said.

The day I fell for Street's Suranne
7 May 2003 by Trevor Ward
I'M on the steps of the Underworld factory in Coronation Street with stunning Suranne Jones, aka sexy seamstress Karen McDonald, when I ask her: "So did all those snogging scenes give you jawache?" She laughs and replies: "It's not the snogging that gives Karen jawache. It's all that talking!"

So who's the best snogger - her boss, Joe Carter, played by Johnny Wrather, or her hapless hubby Steve, played by Simon Gregson? After all, she's had enough practice as the Street's raciest storyline for years sees her character yo- yoing between the two. "You won't believe this," she says, "but it's such a technical thing, concentrating on which camera to face. You don't enjoy it. At least I don't. I can't speak for Simon and Johnny." And then she breaks into that mischievous, sexually-charged laugh again.

So, I ask, with all the snogging you've been doing lately - last week she bedded Joe on a factory table and next week she will embark on a passionate, Bonnie and Clyde-type adventure with him - do you practise much at home on real- life husband-to-be Jim Phelan? "No, I couldn't do that. I can practise my scripts with him, but I couldn't snog him imagining he was Simon or Johnny!"

What had he thought of her steamy scenes on the factory table? "Well, I went home and told him that when we did those scenes I had jogging bottoms on, a dressing gown rolled down off my shoulders, and there were 20 crew in there. "Plus, if you saw the close-up of my foot, you'd see it was purple - that's how cold it was in there."

Even after the highs of the Richard Hillman storyline, the current plot involving Karen moving in with Joe after dumping Steve because of his one- night stand has made gripping viewing with its heady mix of sex, comedy and drama. And so far, poor Steve has come out of it the worst. Does Suranne think he deserves the way he's been treated? "Watching last Monday's episode, I was thinking, `oh why doesn't Karen have him back?'. And my mum, who was with me, said: `No Suranne, he actually slept with another woman, remember that'."

As Suranne links arms with me and takes me across the cobbles and past the boarded- up window of the Duckworths' house, I am entranced by her two most striking features. She has the most beautiful eyes, so big, dark and deep that you think if you looked at them long enough you might end up drowning in them. But what a way to go. And then there's her smile. There's no sun on this drizzly, Mancunian day, but there is Suranne's smile.

Needless to say, by now I am insanely jealous of a bloke I've never even met and who is probably kind to animals, wonderful with children, and due to get hitched to the woman up for the Sexiest Female title at Saturday's British Soap Awards. So how does someone from the real world - lucky Jim is a 28- year-old IT consultant - get to meet someone as beautiful and sexy as Suranne from Planet Celebrity? "We met at a charity football event. He was playing for the Corrie team, as he was mates with one of the cast. But you don't need to be a good footballer," she offers encouragingly. "I think Jim was just wandering about with a beer in his hand. "Then you just need to hang around in the beer tent, waiting for your Jordans and me to walk past, and then give a little whistle!" Sounds straightforward, I say. But what is it about Jim that's kept them together for three years? "He's everything I wanted when I was younger," says Suranne. "He lets me be me and he puts up with my quirkiness. I can be a bit loopy at times."

Well I've known quite a few, er, quirky women in my time, I say, I'm sure I'd be able to cope with you. Suranne starts laughing again: "I almost just said, `Well, you'd have to come and live with me first'. But I'm not sure Jim would like that!"

SO imagine all that worked, I say. How much of Karen McDonald would I find in Suranne Jones? "You tell me," she responds, with her smile on full beam and her eyes looking more dangerous than ever. I splutter something about not knowing Suranne well enough, and she finally puts me out of my misery. "I'm a bit of a handful like Karen, but only in that I like life, I like people and I like a giggle. Karen lets people pass her by and is quite selfish, whereas when I meet someone and am in synch with them, then I'll be with them for life."

As we pass the Rovers, I change the subject. I want to know how Karen can drink pint after pint of bitter every lunchtime and evening without apparently getting drunk? Actually, they're only drinking watered-down shandies - but can't all that fizzy lemonade cause problems of a different sort? Like unfortunate outbreaks of wind? "Yes. And if I had to name names, I'd have to put myself in," she laughs.

Twenty-four-year-old Suranne - her real name is Sarah Anne - has been acting since she was eight. "Talkative and a bit mischievous at school", her parents enrolled her at Oldham Theatre workshop, where she followed in the footsteps of Anna Friel and Lisa Riley. No-one else in her family - she has an older brother and "loads of uncles, aunties and cousins" - had any showbiz links. Apart, that is, from her Auntie Norma, who used to be in a travelling circus. Before her break in to Britain's most popular soap, she was a secretary and barmaid in between acting stints. And she dreamed - silly, adolescent dreams such as appearing on Richard And Judy or walking down the red carpet at an awards bash. She's ticked both off her wishlist now. "I used to get me £3.99 bottle of wine and me 10 Lambert & Butler fags, and me and me mates would watch all these awards dos on the telly. Then, all of a sudden, I'm in a posh frock and drinking expensive wine and thinking I'm the bee's knees!"

SHE fulfilled another dream at this year's TV Bafta awards when she bumped into one of her all- time idols, actress Julie Walters. "She knew who I was and I c**ked myself!" recalls Suranne. "And she told me not to leave Steve! I lost the plot. I try to have this air about me, but I always fail because I fall over or break a heel or something. She said she watches Coronation Street all the time and I'm thinking, `I'm going to have to tell my mum that Julie Walters knows who I am'. When I told my mum she nearly cried."

By now, we've reached Dev's corner shop. It's the end of the road - I just find time to ask about the sexy lad mag photo shoots she did a few years back. "When you're 20 or 21 and you have the chance to look amazing in magazines, knowing you're going to get any fat bits shaved off, that you're going to be airbrushed, then it's great. It makes you realise that other women in magazines aren't perfect either. But I've done that and now I want to concentrate on my acting."

And on that gloomy note, we have to say goodbye. Suranne has a doting fiance waiting for her at home. And I'm on the lookout for a charity football match with a beer tent.

Corrie couple in dream home shock
6 May 2003
They say those who live in glass houses should not throw the first stone - but Vera Duckworth is likely to aim one at husband Jack's head when he says he has found a solution to their money problems. After being swindled out of their £20,000 savings by evil swindler Richard Hillman, Coronation Street's comedy couple are in desperate need of some good luck for a change.

And it seems their dreams have come true when Jack (Bill Tarmey) triumphantly announces he has won a 'dream home' in a competition. Vera (Liz Dawn) is delighted and believes lady luck has smiled on them at last after their recent tribulations with Hillman's hapless widow Gail, who she feels should pay them back their investment. But after planning their big move into the exciting new home Vera's delight turns to disbelief when their bijou new property is revealed to be a greenhouse!

Poor Jack is once again set to feel his wife's wrath after building her hopes up. After losing all their savings, seeing her hair turn purple and now the greenhouse farce, Vera's year seems to be going from bad to worse - and viewers can be sure there are more problems to come for those loveable losers the Duckworths.

Young David is a smash hit
5 May 2003
Young David Platt is set to prove a smash hit in Coronation Street - quite literally. Fed up with the abuse that mum Gail is taking over former husband Richard Hillman's murdering ways, David decides to take the law into his own hands, according to the Daily Star.

The troubled teenager targets Vera Duckworth, who got even for the loss of her life savings by throwing a brick through Gail's window, and returns the compliment with a brick-throwing escapade of his own. This time Vera's home comes under attack - and she immediately blames Gail's mum, Audrey Roberts, who actually tried to stop David taking his revenge.

Tricky Dicky's killing spree and confidence tricks have driven a wedge between the Platts and the rest of Coronation Street, and young David eventually snaps under the pressure. But he comes clean in the end, owns up to what he's done, and the Duckworths finally agree to bury the hatchet.

But does this mean that peace is due to reign in the Street? One Street insider doesn't think so. The source hinted that while things appear to get back to normal, life was unlikely to run smoothly for the Platts for too long.

Heart-throb Keith is back in Street
5 May 2003
You thought you'd seen the back of him...but silver-tongued Ciaran McCarthy is on his way back to Coronation Street. And guess who his No 1 target is? That's right, shop assistant Sunita.

Ciaran, played by former Boyzone star Keith Duffy, was last seen leaving the Street as an Army deserter. But, according to the Daily Star, Keith has now been discharged from the Army and is heading back to the Street determined to get Sunita between the sheets.

Heart-throb Keith left Sunita in tears when he was arrested for going AWOL. But he starts filming again this week, and Sunita, played by Shobna Gulati, will be sorely tested to resist his roguish charms.

'C-list' Angela makes most of perks
4 May 2003
Former Corrie star Angela Griffin admits she is a mere "C-list" celebrity but has found that fame brings its rewards.

At 26 she has starred in Coronation Street as hairdresser Fiona, in medical drama Holby City and has recently finished filming the second series of hairdressing drama Cutting It. But although she is no Hollywood star she admits to making the most of the perks of celebrity. "I may be C-list, but at the moment celebrity is everything and I've discovered that C-listers can get away with a lot more than I realised," she told the Sunday Express S magazine.

Griffin was recently given her first free outfit for an award ceremony - from Escada. And her bags, packed ready for a Caribbean holiday, are filled with freebies. "It took me 10 years to pluck up the courage to ask, but I'm definitely going to do it again now I know it works," she said. "The downside is that people feel it's OK to have an opinion on everything about me. They say, 'You're in that programme and you're rubbish'."

It is a price she is prepared to pay, but she has vowed that she will never date another celebrity after getting a tough press over her relationship with Celebrity Fame Academy winner Will Mellor. Her latest beau is Jason Milligan, brother of actor Max Beesley and former boyfriend of Meg Matthews. But for now her priority is a holiday. "I've been working solidly for 10 months. Now I've got a whole six weeks off and I'm heading for the Caribbean," she giggled.

Trouble brewing
29 April 2003 by Lucy Mangan
In Coronation Street (ITV1), Karen MacDonald (Suranne Jones) - whose magnificently robust attitude to life make her pretty much a natural wonder of the world herself - reached a crossroads. The Pennines quaked, cobbles trembled, grown men ran for shelter as - after setting a new soap record for resisting adulterous temptations - her libido was finally unleashed. Jones has been burning up the screen for weeks as Karen, who, torn between bad-boy Joe and her insecure husband, has tried desperately to do the right thing.

Coronation Street combines humour and pathos in a way no other soap manages. Steve MacDonald (Simon Gregson - whom Jones has hauled gamely up the acting ladder behind her) pleaded in front of an implacable line of Karen's workmates for his formidable wife to come home - "I've no one to argue with. It's not the same with Eileen... You drive me up the wall... But up the wall's where I want to be. With you." It was outrageously moving.

She almost went, but at the last moment succumbed to Joe's final bid - "Just try me on for size!" You feared for the scrawny lad. No man is man enough for Karen, but she could wear Joe as a badge. Nevertheless - and to the surprise of many who had assumed that you couldn't undo Karen's bra without the aid of two large men and an oxyacetylene torch - they were soon doing the nasty on one of the factory's sturdier worktops. Outside, Steve went slowly up the wall. Without her.

I'm A Celebrity claims it's first victim
29 April 2003 by Graeme Baker
I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! almost claimed its first casualty when actor Chris Bisson was slightly injured after falling from a tree.

The former Coronation Street star suffered a blow to the head in the fall after the 10 celebrities spotted a scary-looking spider in a tree. Convinced that the creature looked like a deadly species they had seen in training, the group decided he should climb up and kill it with a stone.

For a few seconds Bisson lay motionless on the ground and had to be helped to his feet by his shocked fellow celebrity contestants. Crew members called a doctor but Bisson was given the all-clear after a check-up. An ITV1 spokesman said: "Chris was very shocked and we called in a medic to check he was OK. Luckily he wasn't seriously injured."

The 10 stars had to nominate one person to take part in the bush tucker trial to win food for the group in the series' first episode. Ex-footballer John Fashanu was chosen and looked horrified when he found out he had to pour 10 boxes of creepy crawlies down his pants. The former Gladiators presenter grimaced as he emptied worms, crayfish, stink beetles, cockroaches, stick insects and crickets into a pair of see-through trousers.

Richard's ghost haunts Gail
28 April 2003
Just when poor Gail Hillman thought she'd got rid of her serial killer husband - his ghost is about to come back and haunt her in Coronation Street. To be more specific, the ghost of his past misdeeds is set to cause more upset for the traumatised widow, when Richard's dodgy dealings result in a repossession order being served on Gail's home.

And what's more, as well as proving a final straw for Gail (Helen Worth), the news has repercussions for some other street characters who also fell for Tricky Dicky's oily charms, and allowed the financial adviser to 'invest' their hard-earned cash. As well as being left penniless, Gail must break the bad news to Jack and Vera Duckworth and Emily Bishop that there is no chance of recovering their lost savings.

Predictably, this news sends Vera into a furious rage, and she hurls a brick through Gail's window - with Gail's son David taking revenge by repeating the window smashing trick on the Duckworth's house. Once again, Gail's mum Audrey comes to the rescue, offering Gail and the children a place to live - but will this be a long term answer for the family who've been through hell and back in the past few months, and whose nightmare seems certain to continue for a good while yet?  

I'm no cleaner, I'm a cleasing operative
27 April 2003 by Billy Sloan
ROVERS Return pot-man Harry Flagg is the pub know-it-all who firmly believes all women are trouble. But even if female Corrie fans don't agree with his opinionated views, they've got to admit, the Street's boozer has never looked more spick and span.

Harry is played by Iain Rogerson, who has finally achieved success after 20 years as a jobbing actor. He was cast as pot- man and cleaner Harry eight months ago, and has become a firm favourite with viewers. When the Sunday Mail visited Iain on set at Granada TV in Manchester, he couldn't quite believe it. Despite previous roles in hit TV dramas such as Peak Practice, Emmerdale and The Bill, he's never been interviewed before. "You're the first," joked half-Scots Iain, 42, who has a string of relatives in Fife. "When you asked to talk to me I thought, `They must have the wrong bloke'."

Harry's forceful views have swept through the Rovers like detergent surging round a U- bend. His gems about the opposite sex include: "There's no point in dwelling on their mysteries... women are unfathomable." Iain lives in the countryside near York with doctor wife Mari. He's having a ball playing the well- meaning pub bore who has a heart of gold. "We all know somebody like Harry Flagg," said Iain. "There's one in just about every pub. He's the kind of bloke who wouldn't do you a bad turn if he could do you a good 'un."

Harry arrived in the Rovers - after a spell keeping Manchester Airport clean - and volunteered his services to landlord Fred Elliott (John Savident). But don't call Harry a cleaner. "He is a top professional cleansing operative and very proud of it," said Iain. "He attends the International Cleaning Conference each year and knows his stuff."

If Iain was nervous about joining Coronation Street, it certainly didn't show. "My first scene was with Fred Elliott and I had to fit in. Nobody can quite remember when Harry began working in the Rovers. "After a few episodes, it was as if he'd been around for years. I was paid a great compliment on my first day by Julie Hesmondhalgh (Hayley Cropper) who said, 'Hey, that was very good Corrie acting'. "Corrie acting is a quality of performance unique to the show but I seem to have pulled it off. "I was so chuffed. I wrote to the casting director thanking her for letting me walk in the footsteps of such giants at Jean Alexander, who as Hilda Ogden was the most famous cleaner ever to dust the Rovers. "Being a jobbing actor can be like playing in the reserves on a wet Saturday afternoon. But when you get the call from Corrie it's like joining the first team."

Harry likes nothing better than to slip on his maroon nylon dustcoat and begin pontificating about life. Iain said: "Harry is a fount of useless information. One of his favourite lines is, 'I've studied people, me. I've seen them at the airport'. "He reckons he's seen everything that life can throw up at you passing through Manchester Airport."

Harry's past is a mystery. Iain guesses that his character has a bitter ex- wife waiting in the wings ready to cause havoc. Or Harry might have once been wed to a pretty young Thai bride he'd "bought" on an internet dating site. Iain says his inspiration for Harry Flagg comes from his father Ray. "Every time I look at Harry... it's me dad," he said. "Only he doesn't realise it yet himself. My dad used to say to me, 'You wanna get into The Bill. Give them a ring, now'."He thought all you had to do was pick up the phone and ask to be given a part. That's exactly the kind of thing Harry would say.

"To get something like Coronation Street is a dream come true for my mum and dad. They tape every single episode whether I'm in it or not. My dad will say, 'Well, we'll tape 'em anyway, you never know'. My mum Mary - who is from Kirkcaldy - works in her local in Wrexham. The regulars have a Harry Flagg fan club."

Iain has a refreshing attitude to acting. He trained for three years at drama school in London and has been in the business for 20 years. You may have spotted him in commercials for Safeway or TV dramas such as Peak Practice and The Bill. His movie credits include Mack The Knife, alongside the late Richard Harris.

Iain said: "There's a lot of rubbish talked about acting. I don't find acting hard. At times, it can be a very long day on the set. "But, let's be honest, it's not like working down a pit. I hate precious actors or luvvies. "I've heard actors moan how they were called on to the set at three o'clock, didn't shoot their first scene until six. Terrible, isn't it? "But my wife will come home and tell me how she had to inform some 16- year-old they had leukaemia. It kind of puts things into perspective, doesn't it?"

Rovers new star is right up my street
27 April 2003 by Gary Bushell
CORRIE newcomer Bev Unwin is making herself as welcome as a sneezing Chinaman. And she's brilliant. She upset Hayley, wound up Roy, got Maria the tin-tack and daughter Shelley's blouse soaked in beer - that's what I call a lager top.

Brassy Bev accused fellow barmaid Maria of having "a face like a slapped backside...you short-change, pull a lousy pint and couldn't start up a conversation with a parrot". Her greatest skill, Bev sneered, was to "stand around looking like a constipated spaniel." By heck, I bet her teeth are grateful when she goes to sleep at night.

Bev (veteran comedy actress Susie Blake) really thinks she is a cut above the Rovers regulars. She's like a down-market Annie Walker, full of airs and graces when in reality she's no better than she should be. The sooner Fat Fred proposes, I say, proposes and puts her in charge the better.

The Street creates strong women the way EastEnders generates heartache. They're not always likeable - look at Toxic Tracy (no Dev won't marry her, can you imagine the lipstick bill?). But like Sue Cleaver's Eileen Grimshaw and Our Vera, whose voice alone can jangle a man's nerves like banjo wire, they are recognizably real.

So here's my question: why are the soaps so good at portraying tough women and so lousy when it comes to strong fellas? You can count all the men's men in Corrie, the proper geezers, on one hand. Len Fairclough left 20 years ago. Terry Duckworth was rotten. Rugger bugger Duggie had trouble getting it up and under. Tommy Nelson has potential, when this dull witness protection story line is finally behind us. But even the crims are miscast. The idiot Morgan brothers were about as hard as a knob of butter in a Namibian heat wave. One of them could have been Frank Skinner's twin. And it's the same in EastEnders. It's easier to believe new "tough nut" Dennis Rickman is soppy Spencer's brother than Dirty Den's son. He's doing time for GBH, which in his case may mean Gobbling Behind Hedges.

The sooner they bring back Grant the better.

PS: Re Shelley's beer-soaked blouse: more soon please ITV, preferably involving Karen and a T-shirt.

They're off! Nude Corrie-on for Peter
27 April 2003
BONKING bookie Peter Barlow has been caught with his pants down in real life! The Corrie love rat, played by CHRIS GASCOYNE, accidentally popped out in front of shocked screen lover KATY CARMICHAEL when he dropped a towel covering his privates.

Katy, who plays florist Lucy, said: "I was so gobsmacked I didn't know where to look. "I tried to pretend I hadn't noticed but I could feel myself blushing." The pair had just finished filming a romantic clinch in Lucy's flat. Katy added: "Unfortunately Peter didn't have a betting slip handy to hide his modesty! "He dropped the towel when he moved off-camera. So it won't end up on It'll Be Alright On The Night, although my red face might!"

Katy diplomatically refused to say whether Chris's meat and two veg were Fred Elliot or Ashley Peacock-sized. My mole in the Weatherfield Green Room added: "Chris was very embarrassed. He quickly picked up the towel, wrapped it round his waist and rushed off the set. "Then we all burst into giggles. Katy and the crew were in hysterics and when Chris came back he joined in. "I don't know what the fuss was about because he clearly had nothing to be ashamed of."

The love triangle between Peter, Lucy and his fiancee Shelley Unwin takes a new twist next month when Shelley (SALLY LINDSAY) finds out her cheating partner has wed in secret after getting Lucy pregnant. My mole adds: "Shelley hasn't got a clue about what's been going on behind her back. So when she finds out expect fireworks and heartache all round. "Peter makes enquiries this week about divorcing Lucy so he can marry Shelley. But he's told he must wait a year."

Lucy left Weatherfield when Peter insisted he couldn't stop seeing Shelley, who was mourning the death of her sister. But Lucy will be back. Katy joked: "I'm looking forward to it - just as long as Peter keeps his trousers on!"

Samia's looking hippy!
IT'S not all glamour being a Corrie babe - as Samia Ghadie proves on a real-life shopping trip in hippy-style vest, jogging bottoms and bandana. Her sex-kitten Street character Maria Sutherland wouldn't be seen dead in such clobber. And it's a far cry from the slinky outfit Samia wore at an awards ceremony.

But the 20-year-old beauty remains refreshingly down-to-earth. On her Manchester outing, she said: "I'm just a Salford council estate girl yet blokes think I'm sexier than J-Lo! It's madness. I dress how I please."

Sue Cleaver
TODD'S nights of passion with Sarah Louise on Corrie are causing no end of problems for screen mum SUE CLEAVER, who plays Eileen Grimshaw. She tells me: "Every time I come out of the chemists the builders shout, 'Have you got Todd his condoms?'`" "I just smile and walk away!"

Here's to my Corrie fling
26 April 2003
SEXY Suranne Jones toasts her sizzling plot in Coronation Street. Viewers will next week see Suranne, Karen McDonald in the hit ITV soap, finally seduced by boss Joe Carter, actor Johnny Wrather.

Their romp in the knicker factory comes after weeks of speculation about the pair, which even caused Karen and her husband Steve to split. Suranne, 24, said: "I'm very excited to be involved in one of the hottest plots Coronation Street has ever filmed. "I love playing Karen and I'm having the time of my life."

Take a Butchers at Janine's playmate
EASTENDERS' Janine Butcher has her roving eye set on Nick Tilsley.

Actress Charlie Brooks will lock lips with the former Coronation Street hunk. But this isn't a Corrie crossover for the BBC soap. Charlie has time off EastEnders to star with Adam Rickitt, right - who played Nick - in a new play.

They are appearing in the 1930s comedy Office Games at the Pleasance Theatre in London. And Charlie snogs Adam - whose hair is slicked into a dodgy centre parting - to wriggle out of a mess her typist character gets into. She said: "She's just like Janine. I always use my charms to get what I want."

Explosive return for Lucy?
25 April 2003
Will pretty florist Lucy Richards return to Coronation Street to blow love rat Peter Barlow's world apart?

Lucy, played by Katy Carmichael, was last seen flouncing out on her new husband after she discovered he was still seeing Shelley Unwin (Sally Lindsay) in what must be one Corrie's shortest lived marriages. Peter (Chris Gascoyne) was undismayed simply turning his attention back to Shelley and now the wayward bookie is seemingly preparing to marry a second time!

Lucy is off our screens at the moment, but Katy predicts a dramatic climax to end Peter's bizarre double life.

"I don't think there can be a happy ending for anyone. I've imagined screaming rows and catfights, " she told itv.com. "Lucy and Shelley have got to have their confrontation soon - or maybe they will both turn on Peter."

However, with Peter nearing another trip down the aisle, will he come clean before he becomes a bigamist as well as a love rat?

Naomi's life after Street death
25 April 2003 by Jonathan Donald
Actress Naomi Radcliffe could easily have slipped into obscurity after dying under the wheels of a lorry in Coronation Street.

But her tragic exit as the deeply disturbed Alison Webster has proved far from a killer blow to her career. Today she has a leading role in hit BBC1 drama Born And Bred — as oddball scrapyard boss Jean Bradshaw.

Radcliffe, 31, told TV Plus about her flourishing life on and after the Street. "Playing Alison (Webster) was a big deal," she says. Distraught over the death of her baby, Alison threw herself under a lorry. "Being in such a huge series and finding myself always subjected to such media interest prepared me for all the attention since. It's made me stronger, that's for sure."

Any concerns about the work drying up after leaving Corrie soon ended for Radcliffe. Casting agents viewed the porcelain-skinned actress in a new light. "Before Corrie I was always offered roles playing prostitutes or abused women," she says. Theatre work followed, plus big screen outings in movies 24 Hour Party People, with Steve Coogan, and with Ricky Tomlinson in Nice Guy Eddie. "Ricky was saintly," she says.

Born And Bred has earned Radcliffe renewed fame on TV. Audiences have warmed to her performance as the oddball scrapyard boss in the nostalgic drama. "I live just south of Manchester, and while the first series was being shown everyone was coming up to me and saying how much they loved it," says the Oldham-born actress. "I was so pleased Born And Bred struck a chord with so many people."

The new series sees Jean Bradshaw trying to sell her collection of stuffed birds. She's also got a job delivering beer. "Apparently, there were women like Jean who did everything," explains Radcliffe. "It was a wartime hangover, with men in short supply." "The dungarees are back, although I do have the chance to wear a couple of fab frocks," she adds. "It's the girdle and stockings - goodness knows how they used to manage."

Tomboy Bradshaw looked to have found love with Eddie at the close of the last series. But relations have cooled in series two and Jean is back to trying to catch his eye. Jean's unfulfilled lovelife is far removed from that of Radcliffe, who's been in a nine-year relationship with actor Carl Cieka. "We're very happy," she says. Carl once played a Corrie cabbie.

Radcliffe has survived leaving a soap - and credits her father for her enduring success as an actress. "I never went into acting to become famous," she says thoughtfully. "My dad is a vicar, and he always said that the Church felt like a vocation. "I feel very much the same about acting - it's a calling. And I'd do it for no money at all. Well, almost no money."

Corrie star in row over planning
24 April 2003
Coronation Street actress Sue Nicholls, who plays Weatherfield councillor Audrey Roberts, is in the midst of a real-life planning application row. The soap star has submitted plans with Stafford Borough Council to build four luxury houses in the grounds of her Grade II-listed family home.

But, neighbours near Weston, Stafford, are not so impressed with the plans and have lodged over 100 objections. The 15 householders say the proposed buildings would be overbearing, obstruct the sun and intrude into their privacy, reports the Stoke Sentinel. The Victorian Society and English Heritage have also raised concerns about the development.

Despite the objections Stafford Borough Council has recommended the development be allowed with certain amendments including access, drainage and landscaping. Officers do not consider the protected trees on the site significant enough to justify refusing the development and say the site complies with guidance on space about dwellings.

An agent acting on behalf of Judith Nicholls said that under official guidelines they could have put a lot more buildings on the site but had decided not to. The property, which was owned by the late Lord and Lady Nicholls, was passed on to their daughters Sue Nicholls and her sister Judith.

Tracy's red hot in Blue
23 April 2003 by Jonathan Trew
TRACY Shaw was feeling Blue when she arrived in Scotland - but the former Corrie babe was red- hot as she starred in a raunchy new play. The actress, who was the subject of weekend rumours that her marriage to Robert Ashworth is falling apart, appeared alongside Jason Connery in David Hare's play, The Blue Room, at Edinburgh's King's Theatre.

Shaw looked pale and drawn when she arrived at the venue in the afternoon. But she regained her poise in time for the opening night performance and shone in the role made famous by Nicole Kidman. The Hollywood star's full frontal scene sent temperatures soaring back in 1998 but Shaw has raised the stakes with two nude scenes.

The Blue Room is all about sex. Who has it, who doesn't and why they do or don't. The ten scenes follow a series of lovers, all played by Shaw and Connery, who move from partner to partner. In one scene, Shaw sizzles as an au pair out to seduce a student and she also excels when playing an actress who twists a playwright around her little finger. Connery also impresses in his multiple roles.

The Blue Room puts sex under the microscope but even with a subject that fascinates so many of us, it could still use more of a storyline. It is fast paced and has good one-liners, but this definitely has Room for improvement.

Corrie's Gand-Alf Roberts
20 April 2003
LORD Of The Rings star Ian McKellen is desperate to be in Coronation Street.

Sir Ian, 63 - who plays wizard Gandalf - is a huge fans and even asked Corrie stunner Samia Ghadie, 20, if she could help at last week's Bafta TV Awards.

A source said: "She was very nervous about meeting such a big actor. But he just went on about wanting to be a character on the show. "He wanted to come for eight or so episodes in a cameo. Samia was stunned."

A Corrie insider said: "He's a fantastic actor. I'm sure producers would jump at the chance to have him."

Crooked Carter in Corrie swindle
23 April 2003
Corrie bad boy Joe Carter is hatching plans to extort cash from factory boss Mike Baldwin, but his little racket will go awry this week. And who will be at his side when the mud hits the proverbial fan? None other than his sultry girlfriend, Karen McDonald.

Karen - played by Suranne Jones - will break up with husband Steve and move in with Carter when their adulterous affair is exposed. And Joe confides in his lover that he has set up a dodgy company called Artrec, and is charging clueless Baldwin for thousands of pounds worth of nonexistent supplies.

Carter's plan is to send the pants factory boss into liquidation and buy the business at a rock-bottom rate. Karen is reluctant to help Carter - played by Jonathan Wrather - in the con, but is won over by promises of a luxurious new flat, snazzy car and designer clothes. But her conscience kicks in as she panics while forging Baldwin's signiature on his cheques.

Sniffing a rat, Mike asks her to show him the Artrec delivery invoices, and she is set to let the cat out of the bag about Carter's swindle. Baldwin - played by Johnny Briggs - discovers Carter's scam and the plotline takes a sensational turn as the fraudster leaves town.

The climax will mean the end of life on Coronation Street for crooked Joe Carter.

Fond farewell to Archie
22 April 2003
British comedy legend Roy Hudd is to quit his role as Coronation Street's Archie Shuttleworth at the end of the month.

Popular comic Hudd, 66, has been a huge hit as loveable undertaker Archie, but decided not to renew his contract which will expire on April 30. It seems the tough Corrie work schedule may have played a large part in his decision not to sign up for another year. The versatile radio and TV comedian also does not want to get too tied to any particular role.

But viewers will be pleased to know that Hudd's character is not being killed off. This may pave the way for Archie to make occasional returns to Weatherfield, to renew his popular on-screen partnership with Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls).

Hayley's lilac Corrievan
22 April 2003
CORRIE'S Hayley is a Street sensation with her new wheels. While most big-name actors show off their status with luxury cars, actress Julie Hesmondhalgh has gone for a lilac caravanette.

Mum-of-one Julie, 33 - who plays transsexual cafe worker Hayley Cropper in the soap - has just splashed out about £7000 on the K- reg Citroen Romahome. It comes equipped with a fridge, cooker and heating system and Julie has told pals it will be ideal for weekends away with husband Ian Kershaw, who plays reporter Ian Thomson in the Street, and their 19-month- old daughter Martha Mo.

One onlooker at Granada TV's Manchester studios said: "I saw this thing driving towards the gate and couldn't believe it when I realised it was Hayley without her brown wig on." He added that the actress was even wearing a cardigan to match her new transport.

Tracy's revenge follows suit
21 April 2003
When Coronation Street's Dev Allahan gives girlfriend Tracy Preston his credit card, she thinks it is the ultimate sign of commitment and starts to hear wedding bells. But barmaid Shelley Unwin soon shatters any illusions she may have when the pair take the card on a shopping spree. And, not the kind of girl to take rejection lying down - Tracy is determined to get her revenge.

Tracy - played by Kate Ford - and Shelley - actress Sally Lindsay - really go to town when they hit the shops and Tracy is happy to let Dev's card pay for all of her extravagances. She gushes about Dev - actor Jimmi Harkishin - making it known that she believes they too will be getting married soon - and even suggesting they join Shelley and Peter in a double ceremony. But when Shelley starts asking whether she has any doubts, she realises that Dev may not share her dreams.

Hit hard by the discovery that the shop owner does not quite consider her marriage material, she decides to get her own back. And where better to hit the smooth operator than in his wallet - where it really hurts. Armed with a pair of scissors she literally lets rip on Dev's designer wardrobe. And like any jilted woman - she enjoys every single moment of her suit revenge.

Tracy: I'm feeling so betrayed
21 April 2003 by Brian Roberts
ACTRESS Tracy Shaw has been devastated after telling friends: "I'm being betrayed by everyone."

Shaw, 29, was rocked by allegations from former Corrie star Clare McGlinn. She told how Shaw had acted like an "uncaged animal" by drunkenly attacking husband Robert Ashworth in the street.

Shaw, on tour with hit show The Blue Room, has not spoken to her husband "for several weeks". A friend said: "Anyone would be close to cracking up. She is in a really difficult time with her marriage, a really difficult time with her career. "People want to help but she's worried what they're saying about her."

Ashworth, 31, yesterday refused to talk about their relationship. They have both removed their wedding rings but neither have confirmed they are filing for divorce, 21 months into the marriage.

Shaw's Blue Room co-star Jason Connery said there was "absolutely no truth at all" in rumours linking him with her.

Go Street to jail
21 April 2003 by Brian Roberts
CORONATION Street loudmouth Les Battersby will be jailed for six months after being fitted up by the police.

Innocent Les, played by Bruce Jones, weeps with his head in his hands as he loses his battle to clear his name. He languishes in a prison cell daubed with graffiti, devastated that the court refused to believe his story.

Les was attacked in the street by love rival PC Mick Hopwood (Ian Gaine) - who promptly arrested him for assault and persuaded a fellow officer to back his story. The "will-he won't-he get off?" scenes are said to be really powerful and set to propel the soap further up the ratings ladder. A senior source said: "By the time the day of the court hearing comes along everyone will be highly-charged with emotions. "There will have been so much intrigue, corruption and injustice gone on that we reckon viewers will be screaming at their TV sets that Les is innocent. "Episodes where characters have been jailed have always been a massive success and we reckon this one is no exception".

Scriptwriters ventured into new territory as they brought police brutality to Weatherfield to keep Corrie on a roll. The source added: "The scenes of Les in his prison cell are quite harrowing and viewers won't be able to feel anything but sorry for him."  

Vera has a smashing time
21 April 2003
After being swindled out of £20,000 by evil murderer Tricky Dicky, it seems that Coronation Street's Vera Duckworth won't rest until she has got her money back. Latest scenes from the Street show Vera - played by actress Liz Dawn - hurling a brick through Gail Hillman's window.

Vera and her husband Jack - actor Bill Tarney - are furious that they have lost all of their cash and seeing Gail enjoying holidays abroad just rubs salt in the wounds. The couple gave Gail's husband Richard their money to invest before he was exposed as a murderer and killed off from the soap.

Vera's first form of revenge came by selling their story to the papers and implying that Gail was involved in all of Tricky Dicky's dodgy dealings. But, not content with that, it seems the interfering cafe worker is determined to make Gail's life difficult.

The final straw comes when they see Gail swanning off to Canada to visit her son, Nick. Jack stands back and watches as his wife hurls the brick through the Hillman's window. But what the bumbling Duckworths don't realise is that Gail's mum Audrey has paid for her daughter's jaunt.

The smashing scenes are set to be screened next month.

Tracy "hit and spat at husband"
20 April 2003 by Millicent Brown
CORONATION Street star Tracy Shaw was last night branded a vicious husband-beater - by one of her co-stars in the ITV soap.

Tracy, who played hairdresser Maxine Peacock, acted like an "uncaged animal" as she drunkenly attacked husband Robert Ashworth, said her friend and former co-star Clare McGlinn, who witnessed the attack. "I saw it all. She even spat in his face. He was nearly in tears, he wiped his face. And what she called him was disgusting. "I told him later, 'You're a battered husband'. If a man did that to a woman he'd be arrested."

Clare, a friend of both Tracy, 29, and her 31-year-old husband, said that drink has made the former blonde pin-up unrecognisable from the actress who played Corrie's dizzy Maxine. And she claims Tracy changed for the worse after her character was killed off earlier this year. She said the actress can now easily knock back two bottles of champagne on her own while at home watching TV. Clare said: "She is so haggard and drawn and her drinking has got worse - she needs help. I didn't realise how destructive it had become until I saw her beating up Robert."

The foul-mouthed and drink-fuelled assault is said to have happened in the foyer of a block of apartments in London where Tracy was staying whilst rehearsing for her play The Blue Room. It appears to have been sparked by jealousy after Clare - who played doctor's wife Charlie Ramsden in Corrie - innocently met with Robert for a meal while waiting for Tracy. After receiving an abusive telephone call from Tracy the pair rushed to meet her at the apartment block, but Tracy started shouting and swearing at Robert, said Clare. "She began to physically assault Robert. She kicked him on his legs and punched him. The attack lasted about two minutes - it was shocking. She'd been shouting at him in the street, all sorts of disgusting obscenities. "She was telling him she wanted to be on her own. She was like a wildcat, totally out of control."

Tracy, who has admitted taking cocaine in the past and once attacked Robert after drinking champagne on a plane, later blamed the incident on the pressures of show business. Clare has denied having a fling with Tracy's husband, saying: "I don't need to take somebody else's man, so why should I go for Tracy Shaw's cast-offs!" Tracy is now said to have taken off her wedding ring and has not spoken to Robert for weeks.

Booze is wrecking Tracy
20 April 2003
TORMENTED actress Tracy Shaw is in the grip of a drink problem which is wrecking her marriage, her best friend sensationally revealed last night. The ex-Coronation Street beauty's booze illness has turned her into a husband-beater who has violently attacked loyal hubby Robert Ashworth in the street. And the destructive effect of torrents of alcohol and inadequate food have left the blonde pin-up looking like a PTERODACTYL, it is claimed.

The astonishing comparison was made by her former co-star and closest pal Clare McGlinn, 34 - after Tracy accused her of having an affair with Robert. Clare fears that Tracy, 29 - loved by millions of Corrie fans as dizzy hairdresser Maxine Peacock - is on the brink of self-destruction.

Speaking to The People, Clare said: "Tracy is almost unrecognisable from the girl I first met. She is so haggard and drawn she almost looks like a pterodactyl. "Her drinking has got worse and she needs help. I didn't realise how destructive it had become until I saw her beating up Robert. "She was like an uncaged animal. She just went berserk and was hitting and kicking." Clare added: "The accusation that I was sleeping with Robert was very hurtful. We are just good friends and that's it. To say anything else is ludicrous. "Tracy needs to sort herself out and acknowledge she has got an illness that could destroy her."

Clare, who played doc's wife Charlie Ramsden in the ITV1 soap, revealed how Tracy:

• KICKED and punched Robert, 31, in a drunken rage which left him fearful for his safety.
• SURROUNDS herself with showbiz hangers-on who encourage her to booze.
• REFUSES to listen to anyone who tells her she needs help.
• HAS CRUELLY thrown Robert's support back in his face after less than two years' marrriage.
• MALICIOUSLY spread rumours about Clare and TV producer Robert among showbiz circles, including a former Coronation Street co-star.

Clare became best buddies with Tracy - and Robert - after joining the soap at the end of 2000. She says: "Tracy and me were like sisters. We would confide in each other's problems and be a shoulder for each other to cry on." But the actress says Tracy changed for the worse after her character was killed off in January and she joined the touring play The Blue Room, in which she strips naked on stage. And Clare was stunned when she saw Tracy - reeking of drink - launch a vicious attack on her husband.

She was visiting London on business and arranged with Robert to meet his wife, who had been to a boozy theatre company dinner. Clare says: "When Robert and I turned up, she was extremely unreasonable. She'd been drinking - you could smell it on her clothes and breath - and she completely ignored me. "She was very aggressive as we walked into the apartment block they were staying at. That is when my respect for her started to change. She began to assault Robert. She kicked him on his legs and punched him. The attack lasted about two minutes and it was shocking. "She'd been shouting at him in the street, all sorts of disgusting obscenities. "She was telling him she wanted to be on her own. She was like a wildcat, totally out of control. "Anyone who lived in the apartment block would have heard it."Robert is such a passive character. He in no way retaliated - he just absorbed it all. "The verbal abuse kept on after the attack. She was calling him all sorts of names, saying she wanted to be on her own and that he hadn't done this and that. It was completely alarming. I didn't want to witness something like that and I have kept this to myself for two months. It was proper abuse. If a guy had done it to a woman, he'd be taken straight down the police station."

After the attack Clare tried to calm Tracy down. She then had to stay in their apartment, fearing for Robert's safety because of Tracy's temper. She said: "I sat quietly on the couch and eventually we both calmed her down. "It was like talking to a child because she was drunk. But her actions were despicable - totally despicable. "Robert was really upset. The next day me and him walked the dogs while Tracy was at rehearsal. He said he was glad I stayed because he didn't know what she would have done. "He didn't say a thing about his own pain - only that he was worried about the pressures on her at work." Clare, who left the Street last year, was caught in the middle after her married pals began having problems when Tracy signed up with The Blue Room. Tracy - already upset at her failure to have a baby - began pushing Robert away and he was left moping at home in Manchester while she started hitting the bottle with her new theatrical chums.

Clare took tearful calls from worried Robert who was desperately trying to persuade his wife to cut back on her drinking. She said: "I was in contact with both of them but then her calls started to drop off. "Tracy was starting to act unreasonable in phone calls to Robert and then would only take calls from him occasionally. Her attitude had changed. Her drinking had increased. When we were friends we would go out and share a bottle of wine. I never saw any problems there. "But now Tracy has a lot of 'Yes Men' around her, hangers on who keep telling her to have another glass. "Me and Robert are casualties of that - we care for her and have both criticised her life-style and we have both been pushed away for doing so."Robert's fears over her drinking remain. Tracy has done nothing to ease these. "She's in denial. She's saying, 'I don't drink'. She's done what drinkers do - surround themselves with other drinkers so they don't look like they've got a problem."

The run of phone calls trying to make Tracy see sense led up to the beating the star gave her husband. She had attacked Robert once before in a champagne-fuelled rage as they flew home from a Caribbean holiday in January 2001. But Clare said: "I didn't realise how destructive her drinking had got until I witnessed the latest attack. "I have warned her about the drinking, about the people around her. I told her to watch the booze. "She needs to balance a good nutritional intake with a healthy alcohol limit - and she's not doing that."

Tracy, who has admitted taking cocaine in the past, also suffered for eight years from another self-abusive illness - the slimming obsession anorexia. And reviewers were left gasping at how skinny she'd become when she first shed her clothes on stage, for her Blue Room debut in the role made famous by Nicole Kidman. Clare said she phoned Tracy two weeks ago to make her see sense after frustrated Robert rang her again in tears. She explained: "I told her I had just had Robert on the phone crying to me. I asked her why they didn't have another go. "But she just shut herself off. She was very cold." Clare soon discovered why Tracy had been so cold with her - her one-time best mate was telling people that Clare was having an affair with Robert.

In a bizarre twist, Clare discovered this from Stephen Beckett, who played her screen husband and Tracy's screen lover Matt in Corrie. Clare, who is touring the UK with the play Edge of Darkness, a psychological thriller, said: "I met Stephen in Brighton where Tracy was also staying. We went for coffee and he took me to one side and told me what Tracy had been saying. At first I laughed - then my jaw dropped. "I had also heard that she'd been saying it to other sources. It's ludicrous. I am single - why would I go off with a married man? "Robert is just a good friend and he really loves Tracy. For her to say that is ridiculous. He has made so many sacrifices for her career. "This is the guy who was giving her foot massages before she went on stage, he was organising an apartment, making sure her washing was done, cleaning up after her. "He had made the decision and became a househusband for her career. He is a very active and motivated individual. As a couple, they made the decision he should stay at home so he could support her. Whether it was the right decision or not is for them. "She had taken it all for granted and has thrown it all back at him. She had bullied him - stripped him of his manhood. I last spoke to him the other day. He was distraught."I know he's upset by what she said about us. I want to defend myself against her accusations because what she said is really damaging. She can't be in the right mind to say something like that."

Tracy has removed her wedding ring from her finger and hasn't spoken to Robert for weeks. He's been leaving messages but she won't speak to him. Clare added: "I am speaking out now because it's the only way I can see of getting through to her. I have tried talking to her but it hasn't worked. I fear for her future and for her marriage. The saddest thing of all is that I know Tracy and Robert really love each other. "By talking about it I will probably put an end to our friendship. But I'm prepared to forfeit that if it makes her see sense. I just want the best for Tracy."

Like a Platt out of hell
20 April 2003 by Billy Sloan
CORONATION Street star Tina O'Brien has been forced to grow up in public. She plays gymslip mum Sarah Louise Platt who's been through more personal traumas in the past two years than most people have to endure in a lifetime.

Sarah was left holding the baby - daughter Bethany - when she got pregnant at 13. Then she almost came a cropper after being held hostage by an internet pervert. Sarah nearly died in a crash when she went joyriding in a stolen car with boyfriend Ade Critchley (Dean Ashton). No sooner had she recovered from her injuries when she was almost murdered by her evil serial killer stepfather Richard Hillman (Brian Capron). He tied up Sarah, her mother Gail (Helen Worth), kid brother David (Jack Shepherd) and baby Bethany (Emily/Amy Walton), kidnapped them in the family people carrier and drove it into a canal. The Platt clan escaped while dastardly Dick perished in the murky waters.

The pretty 19-year-old actress looked remarkably unscathed when we met on the Coronation Street backlot. So, has it felt strange for Tina to go through those difficult "teenage years" both on screen and off?

Tina said: "At times it's seemed like Sarah has got to be the most mixed up teenager in Britain. I'm so glad I've not had to put up with a fraction of what she's gone through. "But there is a part of Sarah's character which is definitely me. My mum used to jokingly call me Kevina, after the bored teenager in the Harry Enfield sketches. "Sarah is like her, too. She can come across as the ultimate stroppy 16- year-old. All her tantrums and footstamping is just her way of stretching the boundaries to see how far she can push her mum. "I think Sarah is like any mixed up teenager. She's basically got a good heart but at times appears selfish. Sarah doesn't mean to be heartless - she's just wrapped up in her own world a lot of the time."

Sarah is set for another spat with her mother Gail in her next big storyline. While her mum has gone to Canada to visit her brother Stephen, she stayed behind at No.8. Unknown to Gail, Sarah's boyfriend Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley) has been staying over. The teenage mum squared it with stepdad Martin Platt (Sean Wilson). But when Gail returns she goes ballistic.

Tina joined the Coronation Street cast in 1999 after minor roles in TV dramas such as Children's Ward, Cops and Clocking Off. She can't believe her luck at being the focus of such cliffhanging Street storylines. The faith of Corrie producers has been more than justified. Tina has turned in a series of impressive performances, particularly when her character fell pregnant and she was nearly killed by Richard.

Tina said: "When I auditioned for the part of Sarah Louise my dad said, `I bet she ends up pregnant'. I said, `Don't be so daft'. But he was dead right. I was delighted to be doing something so controversial in my first storyline. "I remember the first scene I had to shoot with Helen Worth when Sarah found out she was expecting a baby. It was very intense. "I went to a unit for schoolgirl mothers in Manchester, set up so they could carry on with their education before and after the birth. I felt quite honoured to be accepted by girls who were in this situation for real. I hope I dealt with what they were going through sensitively."

Tina has filmed scores of tender scenes with beautiful baby screen daughter Bethany. But Tina blew a big Corrie secret - Bethany is played by identical twins Emily and Amy Walton. What kind of relationship does Tina have with the gorgeous blonde sisters? "I absolutely love them to bits. I've known them since they came on to the Corrie set at just three months old. It's been great watching them grow up."

The Corrie producers use twin girls simply to help ease the workload. Tina revealed that there's a bit of rivalry between the pair. She said: "We've got to be careful to take it in turns and give Emily and Amy alternate scenes. They hate it if one is used more than the other. The girls have got brilliant - and very different - personalities. "They're three now, so they're not babies any more. If we have to re- shoot a scene they know they've got to go to their starting position. "I remember Helen had to re-do a scene which started in the kitchen of the Hillman house. But as she was picking up the dialogue halfway through she started in the living room. "Little Emily told her off for being in the wrong place. On other occasions, the director has shouted, 'Action'. One of the girls has mimicked him and we had to do the scene over again."

But Tina has less fond memories of shooting the scenes in which she nearly died in a car crash after going joyriding with ex Ade. Luckily, a stunt double was used for some of the more harrowing action. Tina said: "I did the scenes in the car when it was was trapped under a truck and I heard this horrendous creaking noise. Sarah was supposed to be unconscious. I was really scared but did not cry. "In the next scene, I was strapped to a stretcher for an hour. It felt like it was real and I didn't like it. "For the next few weeks afterwards, when I was driving my own car, I was very careful with my speed. It really freaked me out."

Tina's biggest recent storyline was when she nearly drowned at the hands of killer Richard. The underwater sequences - in which Sarah, Bethany, Gail and David were trapped in the family people carrier - were shot in a naval training tank in Fleetwood. Tina said: "We had to develop a series of hand signals to let the director know we were okay and we would take gulps of air from cannisters so we could film the scenes. "I had to bob underneath the water with either Emily or Amy and both of them were brilliant. "It took two days of shooting but we were delighted with how it turned out. Everybody said how authentic it looked. "We filmed the outdoor scenes at a canal on the coldest night for ages. Although we all had wetsuits underneath our clothes, we had to stand under hot showers in an inflatable paddling pool between takes so we didn't freeze to death."

At 19, Tina is one of the most recognisable faces on British television. Does she get hordes of guys asking her out? She said: "My ideal date would be a nice meal or a going tenpin bowling. My ideal man would be actor Colin Farrell because he's Irish and a bit of a rogue. "I've never gone on proper dates. Everyone I've gone out with I've been in a relationship with. I get letters from guys saying, `Here's my phone number, give me a call'. "But if I wasn't Sarah from Corrie I don't think guys would look at me twice."

Don't bet on it, Tina.

Naomi goes back to her roots
20 April 2003
Since her days as a seamstress on Coronation Street, Naomi Ryan's career has gone skywards. She's been wowing male viewers with her raunchy performance as a stewardess in Sky TV's 13-part drama Mile High. And now she's bound for Hollywood, with new A-lister pal Kevin Spacey inviting the 24-year-old beauty to LA for film talks.

All of which is a far cry from Naomi's days as a hairdresser, when she worked in a Preston, Lancs, salon charging customers £20 a cut. So we sent Naomi back to her roots for just one day to see if she could still cut it! But instead of returning to the Preston salon where she worked for three years, this time she joined the team at the exclusive Real Hairdressing salon in London's Chelsea, where haircuts can cost £100 a time. "It was a bit nerve-wracking at first!" she admits. "This place is so much swankier than where I worked. Over the years I've kept my hand in, cutting friends' hair. But styles have changed and I was worried I might be a bit rusty."

Bournemouth-born Naomi saw up to 10 customers a day before winning a modelling competition which changed her life and set her on the road to stardom, four years ago. "I went to a performing arts school when I was 16, but I couldn't afford the fees. Mum raised me and my two sisters on her own and money was tight. So, at 17, I took up an apprenticeship in hairdressing at the Lighthouse Salon in Preston," she recalls.

Back then, Naomi was on £12 a day. "I loved cutting hair, but I was terrible at perming. The rollers used to fly all over the place," she recalls. "But I never had any real disasters - apart from turning my boss Andrea's hair turquoise. But she'd mixed the colour up, so I blamed her." Within two years, Naomi was on the salon floor cutting hair, and moved to Headlines in Preston. "It was just amazing what the customers would say. They'd tell me the most outrageous things about their sex lives, things I'm sure they wouldn't even tell their best friends."

Once Naomi qualified, she was earning £150 a week, plus tips. "I loved it when I made people happy. When I gave them a re-style and they smiled from ear to ear, I got a real buzz. In fact, I'd probably still be a hairdresser now if Mum hadn't sent a picture of me to the local paper that was looking for new faces to model. "I was cutting someone's hair when she opened the paper and there was a picture of me and another girl saying we'd won their Face Of The Year contest. I almost cut her ear off, I was in such shock! Six months later, I'd quit hairdressing and was modelling full time." From there, Naomi landed her first TV role on Coronation Street, followed by her part as sexy stewardess Lehann Williams on Mile High.

But could the actress still prove she's head and shoulders above the rest as a hairdresser? "I loved my day there, and it didn't take long for me to get back into the swing of things. At times, it felt as if I'd never left hairdressing. If my acting career came to an end, I reckon I'd like to work here." Real's co-owner and colourist, Josh Wood, shows Naomi round the salon and loves the new blonde look that's miles different from her Sky TV character. Naomi's first client on her Back To Work day, personal trainer Noel Van-zyl, can't believe his luck. He's heard that stars come to the salon - but never to cut your hair! Naomi washes Noel's hair as all the juniors are busy. She says her hands used to get very dry having to shampoo heads all day. Naomi's next surprised client is Rima Jones, a booker at a model agency. Naomi gives her two different colour highlights. Behind the salon mirrors, Naomi takes a well-earned coffee break with Real receptionist Kelly Burley.

Corrie scripts a plot of nonsense
20 April 2003
High comedy during the Coronation Street siege as the police almost put out an APB on Ken Dodd following Sally Webster’s description of the suspects. “Tall with funny teeth.” Er, thanks Sal.

Yet as with most things in life the full impact of the siege was not felt until Sal had delivered her final verdict. “They might have turned the gun on me,” she screamed at Kevin. And while she might see that as a lucky escape, for the rest of us you have to say it goes down as a chance missed.

Then again if the Morgan brothers had turned their gun on Sal there’s every chance they’d have missed. I haven’t checked their family tree that closely but I’m willing to bet there’s a Dingle on there somewhere. They weren’t that bright. As for the actors who played them, if their family tree doesn’t include the Chuckle Brothers I’d be even more surprised.

Suffice it to say, after weeks – no, months – of high quality, Corrie managed to undo much good work in a matter of minutes with a scenario best left to soaps which need the ratings. Brookside RIP. Any drama was lost before it started, and for one very good reason – it was about the Nelsons. AKA that new family no-one cares about. Witness Protection Programme? Witnesses on my favourite programme that don’t deserve protecting, more like.

When Roy Cropper asked “Why would anyone want to take a shot at anyone in that family?” I was half expecting Peter Barlow to chip in with“I don’t know, Roy. But don’t ask me to run a book on it.” When Tommy Nelson told his son Dennis The Menace “me and yer mam are not monsters” I couldn’t help thinking he’d not really taken a good look at the missus recently. Because that brief close-up of Angie, her face contorted in rage and despair as the shots rang out, was the stuff of nightmares.

To be fair, the actors do their best and now the siege is over at least the Nelsons can revert to their real name. Which, rather aptly, makes them a bunch of Harrises. But whatever the name, the family were handicapped from the start by a ludicrous plot which has quite literally left them with nowhere to go. And I cannot believe the producers are now hoping to sweep it under the carpet with fresh storylines.

Because if Angie is so happy not to live under police protection any more now that the Morgan brothers are safely locked up with their evil brother Piers why would the Nelsons bother staying in Weatherfield at all? Surely they’d just go back to Sheffield. Or am I missing something? And I hardly think Sally organising some kind of neighbourhood hate campaign to drive them away is going to work. Sal, try befriending them instead. A few months with you as a pal and I reckon they’ll have run off screaming back to Sheffield by Christmas.

And if that doesn’t work try the ultimate torture: Send “the girls” round.

Coronation Street hairnet fetches £50
19 April 2003
A hairnet worn by Coronation Street legend Ena Sharples has been sold at auction for £50.

Ena, played by the late Violet Carson, appeared in the first episode of Britain's longest-running TV soap in 1960 and remained in the show for around 20 years. The actress gave one of Ena's trademark hairnets to a woman from St Austell, Cornwall, in thanks for a birthday card in 1976. Today, 27 years on, it went under the hammer at a sale in Laddock, near Truro.

Speaking after the event auctioneer Philip Buddell said he thought the buyer had got a fair price. "There was good bidding for it but we only got £50 which is probably what it is worth," he said. "I think the man who bought is essentially a dealer. I don't think he was doing it for the love of Coronation Street. I wouldn't be surprised if one saw it for sale again shortly."

A second hairnet given by Violet Carson to a female Corrie fan from north Cornwall 30 years ago failed to attract any offers from 150 potential buyers at today's auction. Mr Buddell said Corrie fans who missed out on the sale would have a chance to buy the second hairnet at a future auction.

Street stars play Easter bunny
17 April 2003
Coronation Street stars played Easter Bunny today by delivering chocolate eggs to patients at a children's hospital.

Bruce Jones, better known as Les Battersby, and Andrew Whyment, who plays his sidekick Kirk Sutherland, visited the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in Pendlebury, Manchester. They were joined by Kevin Kennedy (Curly Watts) and Angela Lonsdale (Emma Watts) in giving out Easter eggs and signed posters of the cast.

Max Mountford-Deakin, five, who is due to have a kidney operation, was overjoyed as he met his idol, Les Battersby. His mother, Karen, 35, of Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, said: "He loves the Street and has three teddies named after Les, Janice and Toyah."

Jason:the naked truth about Tracy
17 April 2003 by Rick Fulton
JASON CONNERY admits gorgeous ex-Corrie Street star Tracy Shaw is going through a "really tough" time - but it has nothing to with the fact she has been sharing a stage naked with him every night for two months.

The pair are starring in The Blue Room, which arrives in Scotland next week. The former soap star is said to be in marriage difficulties with Robert Ashworth after only 21 months.

The sexy 29-year old has kept tight-lipped about what is happening but Jason, son of the ultimate James Bond, Sean, has appeared naked and intimate with the star on a nightly basis as the play has toured all over Britain and seems to confirm that there are some problems. He said: "It's been really tough for her." Speaking of his own experience, the divorced son of Sean Connery added: "I was lucky nobody knew and, although it was difficult, I wasn't in the public eye and I was in America. "It's very difficult at the best of times, but when everybody is reading about your life in that way it can be quite disturbing. Especially when a lot of things said are not actually how they seem. "It's very difficult not to defend oneself, but she's doing well. Another actress might have walked out of the play as a result, but perhaps doing it is a great way of taking Tracy's mind away."

Jason's divorce from actress Mia Sara, who he met in 1996, had the heartbreak dimension of involving his five-year-old son Dashiell. Jason, 40, said: "As a young man I had a lot of very simplistic beliefs, that the world is very black and white and if this happened I'd do this and so on. "As I've got older I've realised that things aren't that simple when people you love are involved. "You find yourself in a position where you need to look after yourself, but also need to look after your children. It has been a very strange time for me these past six or seven years. "I married and moved out to America, which initially I didn't want. I thought I'd live in Britain but it didn't work out for my ex- wife. "Then we got divorced and now I've got a son living in LA. It's hard."

Jason has nothing but praise for Tracy who he has got to know well during the UK and Irish tour. In The Blue Room they each play five separate characters. Jason added: "It's been a huge lifestyle change for her. When she was in Corrie she was in one place and she was there for more than seven years. "It's a big change to be on tour every night. I think she sometimes gets a real hard crack by the press. I think they miss her not being in Corrie and going to parties all the time. "But she is dedicated to turning her career in a different direction."

Career has, admits Jason, caused problems for him, too - his signing up for a touring play in the UK, which will keep him away from his son for months. THE star added: "It was a big decision to come over and do this but I felt I wasn't doing as much as I'd like in LA. "Actually it benefits my son if I was in a good place mentally, even though physically I'd be away."

He speaks to Dashiell every other day and Sean's grandson will be flying over at Easter to visit. He has also bought a house in LA in which Dashiell has his own room. Jason's own parents - Sean and actress Diana Cilento - split when he was 10 and they remain distant. So much so that, when their son married, neither parent witnessed the event. Jason added: "In my divorce, I did worry about history repeating itself. It was difficult - but there comes a time when you think what has happened in the past doesn't have to be the same. "Mia and I used a mediator so we were able to come to an agreement without it becoming acrimonious. "I know my parents tried to do that, but when lawyers get involved it's very difficult to keep things simple. "My parents have supported me without pointing fingers and telling me what I should do."

Together with turning 40, Jason has become a much more interesting man. And his own man after years of being Sean's son. He added: "I'm single. I'm not ready to meet someone else. It's very difficult to look at the future. I want to keep things simple. Three years ago I thought I'd be married to Mia for the rest of my life. "Now rather than thinking how terrible my life is because it didn't work out the way I thought it would - I just realise it's dangerous to expect anything else."

NOW Jason revels in the simple things - like his cottage in Melrose which he flees to when he's in the UK. He's going to invite Tracy and the crew with them for a meal when they arrive in Edinburgh for the play's run at the King's Theatre. He is also expecting Sean in the audience at the King's.

So far both he and Tracy have had favourable reviews for The Blue Room. With his blonde looks he's still got those leading man credentials. And judging by the reaction his nude scenes got from the audience in Londonderry, he's got nothing to be insecure about. He said: "There's been a lot of press about Tracy being nude but I think it was a surprise I was as well. It was a very funny moment. The first time I'm naked is when I'm a student and this woman let out a shriek. "Usually I'm the student and don't think about being naked, but suddenly I was Jason and I was very aware. "And no, I didn't get her phone number."

For Sean fans it will also be interesting because, in one character, Jason - brought up in Englih public schools - speaks with a Scottish accent. He said: "People have said I sound like my dad. "I didn't base the accent on him - it's more Gordon Brown."

The Blue Room arrives at Edinburgh's King's Theatre next Tuesday, April 22.

Is Tracy cracking up after Corrie?
17 April 2003 by Brian Mciver
SHE'S one of the most popular and beautiful actresses around at the moment. But, according to her mother in law, former Coronation Street star Tracy Shaw could be cracking up.

The mother of her husband Robert Ashworth, says the gorgeous actress has been struggling to cope with the strains of trying to save both her troubled marriage and her career, following her character Maxine's bloody exit from the soap earlier this year. Mary Ashworth was reported as saying earlier this week that she had become "snappy and "stressful" since leaving the show.

The couple have been struggling to save their 21-month old marriage and have become increasingly estranged while she tours the country stripping off for The Blue Room. She has also been spotted hanging around with a handsome former school friend, which fuelled speculation about her marriage, while she is believed to be unhappy with her husband's alleged pot-smoking habit.

Tracy was also reported to be enraged when she saw pictures of him without his wedding ring and, a year ago, the couple were involved in a furious mid air row which they attributed to tensions when they were both trying to stop smoking. Tracy has also taken to driving a logo-plastered MG sports car, hardly the most discreet of status symbols.

The publicity conscious star's woes have also been added to by a painful regular routine of all-over body waxing for her nude appearances and a painful fall during rehearsals. And she may still be suffering from the trauma of her famous eating disorder and also from the closure last October of the anorexia charity she set up four years ago. But it apppears as if even she doesn't know if she's coming or going as she tries to save her realtionship. She said last week: "He says he loves me and I adore him. But I don't know what the hell's going on."

Veteran actor joins The Street
16 April 2003
Veteran actor Bernard Cribbins - best known for his role in The Railway Children and as the voice of The Wombles - is to join the cast of Coronation Street. Cribbins will play charmer Wally Bannister, who replaces undertaker Archie in battleaxe Blanche Hunt's affections.

The 74-year-old Oldham-born star said he was "delighted" to be joining the series.

Wally hooks up with Blanche (Maggie Jones) after she accompanies Archie (Roy Hudd) to a tea dance as a peace offering after he dumped her. Cribbins's character is a widower and a big cheese in a local domino league who charms Blanche, despite the ribbing she gets from granddaughter Tracy (Kate Ford) when she learns his name. Blanche believes her polite and witty new man is the perfect gent - until he tries to chat up Tracy.

He said: "I was delighted to be asked to join the cast of Coronation Street and have been a fan of the show since I first watched it with my mother. "It's also a great opportunity to put to use my native north country accent."

A Coronation Street spokesperson added: "The scenes between Blanche, Wally and Tracy will recreate the classic Coronation Street humour as we watch romance blossom between them all."

Carry On Corrie
16 April 2003 by Brian Roberts
Veteran comic actor Bernard Cribbins has been signed up by Coronation Street. The star - who appeared in several Carry On movies, the Railway Children, was the voice behind the Wombles and played the legendary spoon salesman in Fawlty Towers - said he was delighted to be joining the soap. Cribbins, 74, added: "I have been a fan of the show since I first watched it with my mother."

He will join the cast as fellow comedy actor Roy Hudd leaves his role as undertaker Archie Shuttleworth. Cribbins will play ageing romeo Wally Bannister, whose introduction to Weatherfield will be uncannily similar to Archie's. He had a soft spot for battleaxe Blanche Hunt (Maggie Jones) - and so does Wally.

Coincidentally Wally is introduced to Deirdre's mum by Archie himself. They meet at a tea dance and quickly hit it off. It doesn't take long for Wally to get his feet under the table at Blanche's place and she completely falls for his smarmy patter.

A Street source said: "Wally is a right smoothie, doing all he can to ingratiate himself with Deirdre and Ken (Anne Kirkbride and Bill Roache) "He flatters Blanche by saying he can't believe she's a grandmother."

Dapper Wally fancies himself as a ladies man so much that at one stage he even tries it on with man-eater Tracy, who is 50 years his junior. In hilarious scenes, he calls when Blanche is out and stuns her grand-daughter Tracy with his chat-up line. The insider said: "Wally says if he was 20 years younger he could have made Tracy's dreams come true. "What starts as a joke ends when Tracy tells him he'd better leave. "Then Tracy starts to think of perhaps getting her hands on Wally's money - she actually thinks could he be her sugar daddy?"

Cribbins, who described his new role as "a great opportunity to put to use my native north country accent", will join the Street at the end of May.

Corrie star attacked by footie fans
16 April 2003
Coronation Street star Thomas Craig - who plays the Nelson family dad Tommy - has been beaten up by football fans, says the Daily Star. The Sheffield Wednesday fan had just seen his team beat Portsmouth 2-1 at Fratton Park when the incident occurred.

The unprovoked attack was said to have happened outside the football ground when rival fans recognised the 39-year-old actor. The Sheffield-born star was recovering at home and told Hampshire Police he wanted to play down the incident and would not be pressing charges.

A Corrie spokesman told the Daily Star: "Thomas was attacked when he and a group of friends travelled to watch the game. "He wants to play down the whole thing. He has not got broken bones and there were no weapons involved. Understandably, he was very shaken at the time. "Thomas understands that emotions run high during football matches - and this one was a highly charged game indeed."

A Hampshire police spokesman confirmed that one man was arrested, but said: "The victim has since declined to take the matter further."

Thomas joined the Street in November as part of the Nelson clan, who were in hiding after giving evidence against gangsters. Millions of viewers saw him shot on screen this week when the hardmen finally caught up with the family.

Corrie's Vera gets purple rinse
15 April 2003
Coronation Street's Vera Duckworth will be left fuming after a hairdressing mix-up leaves her with purple hair.

The mistake happens when Audrey Roberts leaves Maria Sutherland and trainee Candice Stowe in charge of her salon. Candice tries to show initiative by mixing the blonde dye, but realises her mistake when she goes to rinse Vera's hair. She storms out of the salon to meet husband Jack, who has just won a three-year supply of purple toilet cleaner in a competition.

Vera makes Jack sell his prize to fund a trip to another hairdresser.

Frocky Corrie Show
15 April 2003 by Jill Foster

THEY may have picked up a BAFTA for best soap but the Coronation Street girls will not be winning any fashion awards.

The women of Weatherfield looked more like they were planning a night down the Rovers than guests of honour at a showbiz bash when they attended the awards ceremony on Sunday night. While stars such as Minnie Driver, Carol Vorderman and Amanda Holden glided down the red carpet looking sleek and sexy, Corrie favourites Suranne Jones, Kate Ford and Samia Ghadie were kitted out in gear that would have made Hilda Ogden's curlers curl.

Samia - who plays feisty barmaid Maria Sutherland - was recently voted 25th in a poll of the world's sexiest women by FHM magazine. And Suranne Jones has posed provocatively for a range of lads' mags. But at the award do, the Street stars' sex appeal let them down.

"They weren't the sort of glamorous outfits you would normally see at an event like this," says Daily Mirror's fashion director Ollie Picton-Jones. "Some of them went for high fashion rather than simple style and playing to their natural attributes. "The words 'hedge' and 'backwards' leap to mind."

Lucy-Jo Hudson (Katy Nelson) in a chiffon mini-dress with odd Oriental print. Katy's family is in hiding - so perhaps she'll stay out of sight. PC Emma Watts may be a girl in blue but Angela Lonsdale's shiny dress with plunging neckline and lace-up front is not much cop. Helen Worth (Gail Hillman) put aside the ravages of life with Tricky Dicky to look half-decent. But the purple, sparkly sandals were a no-no. Poor old Tracy Barlow has a lot to cope with as Deirdre's daughter. But Kate Ford should still have spotted this polka-dot outfit was a big mistake. Suranne Jones, who plays factory girl Karen McDonald, looks sew wrong in this ruched chiffon skirt with see-through, black polo neck. Let her go, Steve! Wannabe sex siren Samia Ghadie (Maria Sutherland) opted for satin combat trousers - but they made her slim hips more like ex-boyfriend Tyrone's.

Do you know who I am?
15 April 2003
In Coronation Street, the Nelson family, who are also on a witness protection scheme, have been run to earth by Andy and Nick, who should be instantly snapped up by some enterprising panto as the broker's men. Andy wears a Burberry baseball cap (fake you fear) and Nick, who has an unusually long neck, has a little woolly cap which keeps riding up. They are exacting revenge for our kid who, you instinctively feel, is not a nice child. Angela Nelson fingered our kid for murder and he swore a vow while he was in prison it would be her life for hissen. The broker's men find only young Katy at home. They make dark threats and drop cigarette ash on the carpet. Katy goes into a diabetic coma. Tommy rushes in to save her. PC 2676 struggles gamely with Angela, a big woman. A shot rings out!

My guess, I will not say hope, is that Nick has shot Andy or vice versa

Cliffhanger for Corrie fans
15 April 2003
Coronation Street fans face a cliffhanger as they wait to find out whether Tommy Nelson survives being shot.

Viewers will see armed police storm the Nelsons' house in the ITV soap on Wednesday. Angela finds her daughter Katy unconscious on the floor, and husband Tommy bleeding from a gunshot wound and facing emergency surgery.

The drama started after Katy was followed to a gig by brothers Andy and Nick Morgan, intent on revenge after Angela witnessed a murder being committed. Viewers will also see the shooting causing aftershocks on the Street. Sally is quick to condemn the Nelsons for bringing danger to Weatherfield, and Roy is shocked to discover Hayley knew about the family's secret.

Corrie wins best soap
14 April 2003
Coronation Street continued its wildly successful year by scooping the Bafta for best soap. The ITV1 soap has dominated the ratings thanks to its Tricky Dicky serial killer storyline.

Producer of the show Kieran Roberts accepted the award and was joined by members of the cast on the stage. He said later: "I am thrilled that Coronation Street has won the award. It has been a great year for us and it is a very special accolade indeed." "The story line everyone has been talking about is about Richard Hillman - but one good story line does not win you the award on its own." "There are a number of fabulous story lines running at the moment and there are many more to come." "It is a complete team effort and I want to thank everyone involved including the actors, the technicians and everyone who works on the show."

Brian Capron, who played serial killer Richard Hillman, told what an honour it had been to appear on the show. He said: "I look at some of the writing and think I would never get as good as that in the future.

The best entertainment show prize went to ITV1's celebrity survival series I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! beating shows such as Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Veteran actor David Jason was given a standing ovation as he collected a Bafta Fellowship for his contribution to broadcasting. He collected the prize from his Open All Hours co-star Ronnie Barker, who made a rare public appearance to pay tribute to the well-loved TV star.

A tearful Jason told the guests: "I'm very moved and very honoured to find myself in this position. The lad from Finchley hasn't done too bad over the years." Jason, 63, is one of the best loved stars on British television for his lead role in detective drama A Touch Of Frost and his performances as Del Boy in Only Fools And Horses. He said: "I was sitting down there full of wonderful ideas and wonderful thoughts - I was just wondering whether it was Bafta's way of saying you've had enough, give it to someone else."

The other big news was comedian Paul Merton beating his TV sparring partner Angus Deayton to the best entertainment performance prize. Merton spat out his beer in surprise when his win was announced and he ran to the stage to collect his prize. And he joked: "They say the closer you sit to the stage, the better chance you have of winning. Angus Deayton is sat in Row G - at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane."

The Office was a double winner for the second year running at the showbiz bash at the London Palladium. Its star and creator Ricky Gervais, who plays boss David Brent, took the best comedy performance prize and his show was named best sitcom.

Veteran actor Albert Finney repeated his success at the international Emmys by picking up the best actor prize for his role in The Gathering Storm. He plays Winston Churchill in a gripping drama about the wartime leader's wilderness years. Julie Walters landed the best actress prize for her role in Murder - looking at the impact of a child killing on a family. Channel 4's Faking It took the best features prize - beating high-profile shows such as Jamie's Kitchen.

Street's Candice ditches teen image
13 April 2003
Coronation Street's Candice Stowe is about to grow up and adopt a raunchier image. Candice will soon drop out of school to get a job and enter the adult world.

Nikki Sanderson, who plays Candice, told The People: "It's the end of an era. At last I can ditch the teen image and show the sexier side of Candice. "She will liven up and live it up and I'd like her to become one of the soap world's biggest bitches."

Candice will soon land a job at Audrey Roberts' hair salon. Disaster will strike on her first day when she turns Vera Duckworth's hair purple. Nikki is looking forward to Candice's steamier story lines. Nikki added: "It's great playing a bitch. It's a chance to be someone I could never be in real life. Candice doesn't care who she hurts."

She says her boyfriend Jamie Meakin helps keep her feet on the ground. Nikki told the paper that some people think she really is like Candice. "Girls call me `slag' and `tart' in the street,'' she said. "When I go out they think I'm out to steal their boyfriends."  

Soap duds are washout
6 April 2003 by Gary Bushell
THE ITC are toothless and stuck-up, but they are RIGHT to kick up a stink about the amount of soap in prime time. Lazy scheduling means TV neglects other proven forms of popular entertainment that need big budgets (down-to-earth sitcoms, variety and talent shows, cheeky chappie comics).

And the soaps ARE suffering from over-exposure. EastEnders has been treading water for half a year. Corrie has found its form, but next week they fall back on yet another siege. All this misery must be bad for the national psyche. Viewers want warmth, that's why we treasure the memories of Tommy Cooper, the Carry Ons, Eric & Ernie and the Steptoes.

Give Joe Pasquale a regular vehicle, ITV. Bring back Brian Conley, poach Peter Kay. It's laughter we're after.

Jonathan Wrather
HE is the hottest heart-throb in soap. But there is one part of JONATHAN WRATHER'S body his legions of female fans will never see on TV...his legs! Jonathan, who plays Corrie's randy Joe Carter, tells me: "They're so thin and white - I won't even get them out on the beach."

Away with the fairies
SALLY LINDSAY isn't as down to earth as Corrie barmaid Shelley Unwin - she believes in fairies. She says: "I cope with this mad, mad world by believing in fairies, goblins and guardian angels. I'm also a big fan of people like Uri Geller."

Former soap stars head for the jungle
12 April 2003
Ex-Coronation Street star Chris Bisson and cricketer Phil Tufnell are the bookies’ favourites to win the new series of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here. The pair are 4/1 favourites with bookmaker Ladbrokes to be crowned King of the Jungle.

Their fellow contestants on the ITV1 show are actress Danniella Westbrook, dancer Wayne Sleep, TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson, weathergirl Sian Lloyd, former footballer John Fashanu and Changing Rooms designer Linda Barker.

TV bosses promise that conditions in the bug-infested jungle will be even tougher than last year. Ant and Dec will again present nightly shows and viewers will choose which celebrities they want to see undertake gruelling – and often gruesome – trials. Fashanu is third favourite at 9/2, followed by Westbrook (5/1), Barker (6/1), Lloyd (13/2) and Sleep (7/1). Celebrity chef Worrall Thompson is the 8/1 outsider.

The first series of the show, won by veteran DJ Tony Blackburn, was a ratings hit and gave a career boost to contestants like Rhona Cameron and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. Programme makers Granada said two more celebrities may join the line-up before the programme begins later this month.

Shobna scoops soaps race award
11 April 2003
Coronation Street's Shobna Gulati has scooped a top award that recognises the work of ethnic minorities in the media.

The actress, who plays shopgirl Sunita, won the prize for best soap character at the annual Race in the Media Awards (RIMA), held at London's Savoy hotel. Also competing for the award were Corinne Hollingworth from Family Affairs and EastEnders.

Hosted by Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow and Sky News presenter Lisa Aziz, the awards, which are organised by the Commission for Racial Equality were attend by stars of TV and radio. Celebrities attending RIMA included Gary Beadle (Paul Trueman) from EastEnders and Coronation Street's 'Dev' and 'Sunita' -- Jimmi Harkishin and Shobna Gulati. Completing the soaps line up were Ebony Thomas (Yasmin), Mark McLean (Benji McHugh), and Roger Griffith (Gabriel Drummond) from Family Affairs.  

Corrie fans 'enraged' by gay storyline
11 April 2003 by Simon Holden
Plans for Coronation Street heart-throb Todd Grimshaw to become the soap's first gay character have caused a stir.

The idea was revealed by producer Kieran Roberts. Todd's relationship with girlfriend Sarah Lou will hit a crisis when he begins to question his sexuality. But Roberts insisted the story would be handled "the Corrie way".

One Corrie fan has complained to TV Plus about plans to turn Todd into the soap's first gay character. Teletext viewer Hollie Teague, 18, from Ivybridge, Devon, e-mailed us to say: "Although I'm a fan of Corrie I think altering Todd's sexuality is the most absurd thing I've heard since Emmerdale wished to turn Robert gay. "Why not just introduce a character where their sexuality is no problem but is accepted?"

A Corrie spokeswoman said: "It is not something we are definitely going to do. We're exploring it as a possibility. If we do do it it will develop out of the character rather than being issue-led. It is not included in the current storylines that run up to September."

Net a TV relic
11 April 2003
A hairnet worn by Coronation Street battleaxe Ena Sharples will be auctioned next week. Fans are expected to bid up to £100 for the TV relic in Truro, Cornwall.

Last orders for Maria
10 April 2003
There's more pint flinging at the Rover's Return - and it ends with Maria Sutherland getting the sack.

Maria, played by Samia Ghadie has a furious row with Shelley Unwin's mum, Bev. It climaxes with Maria hurling a drink in her direction - but her aim is poor and instead she manages to drench manageress Shelley, played by Sally Lindsay. This behind the bar barney happens in full view of customers and Shelley feels she has no option other than to sack Maria on the spot. Maria flounces out saying she's glad to be rid of the job. But in the cold light of day realises she has to earn a living somehow.

The incident marks the beginning of some steamy storylines for Samia, according to the Daily Star. It says Coronation Street bosses want to make Samia their No 1 sex symbol after the departure of Tracy Shaw, who played murder victim Maxine Peacock. The paper says Maria is forced to use her sex appeal to make ends meet and becomes involved with an older man. The paper also speculates that she'll be sucked into Manchester's underworld and become Corrie's first high-class escort girl.  

Family fortunes
10 April 2003 by Nancy Banks-Smith
It is a sad comment on the Sahara of my social life that I immediately recognised Madonna Grimes, who applied for the job as Joshua's nanny in Coronation Street (ITV1), as the clueless girl in the dry-cleaners who infuriated Audrey some months ago.

Madonna seemed largely dressed in holes. Fishnet tights and a heavily slashed top. Fred, the baby's grandfather, gamely opened the batting for Lancashire."Sooo ... Madonna. Interesting name, thaat. Were your mother religious or what?" "What's 'e on about?" said Madonna.

I seem to see Madonna Grimes drifting vacantly from job to job, a perambulating pain in the neck wherever she works. Usually temporarily. You will not be astonished - though, I hope, you will be concerned - to know that she is shortly going to apply for Maxine's old job at the hairdressers. Which is owned by Audrey.

Karen finally falls for Joe
9 April 2003
Coronation Street's Karen McDonald will finally fall for the charms of factory boss Joe Carter. Karen (Suranne Jones) decides to have an affair after finding out that husband Steve (Simon Gregson) had a one night stand.

Jealous Steve took a girl home because he wrongly believed that Karen had started a romance with Joe. But Karen will soon take her revenge by getting off with Joe (Jonathan Wrather). However, Joe will try and get her involved in his scheme to steal cash from Mike Baldwin's business.

Suranne says she's relishing the latest steamy scenes. She told the Daily Star: "I'm having the time of my life. This storyline is taking my character one step further."

Soaps serve a great need, says ITV
9 April 2003
ITV bosses have rejected claims by TV watchdogs that they screen too much soap.

ITV was warned by TV regulators that soaps had reached saturation point at peak times. The channel broadcasts 10 hours of peak-time soap episodes a week. The Independent Television Commission said screening so many of the shows was putting diversity in jeopardy and threatening other dramas. In its final annual report before it makes way for new body, Ofcom, the ITC said ITV1 gave a "patchy performance" in 2002

The network was badly hit by a drop in advertising revenue but has since pumped extra cash into ensuring its output is improved, particularly for drama. Although praised in some areas of its programming, the ITC concluded: "There was some popular excellence, but also some less inspired output." ITV produced a "good range and volume of drama" with The Forsyte Saga and Dr Zhivago seen as "landmark" programmes.

But the ITC warned: "The introduction of a fifth weekly instalment (of Coronation Street) in addition to five editions of Emmerdale is in danger of posing a threat to diversity in peak time." Emmerdale is on daily at 7pm throughout the week and Corrie is screened on four nights with a double bill on Mondays. Between them the shows account for five hours of viewing in peak-time - 6pm to 10.30pm.

But ITV chiefs have rejected the ITC's criticisms, pointing out that soaps are more popular than ever. The recent Coronation Street storyline featuring serial killer Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) attracted up to 20 million viewers. An ITV1 spokeswoman told the Daily Star: "We don't believe we screen too much soap. Shows such as Corrie and Emmerdale are hugely popular. "Soaps serve a great need and we don't think people are sick of them.

Shaw silent on marriage
9 April 2003
FORMER Coronation Street star Tracy Shaw refused to discuss her troubled marriage yesterday.

Tracy, 29, was at a photo call for the play The Blue Room, in which she is starring. Her husband, 31- year-old Robert Ashworth, is said to have made inquiries about a divorce. One of her childhood friends, Ashley Poundall, 30, is helping her through the rough patch. The pair have been seen together frequently. But when quizzed, Tracy said: "I'm sorry I can't talk about that."

Watchdog bursts ITV's soap bubble
8 April 2003
ITV has been warned by TV regulators that soaps have reached saturation point at peak times.

The Independent Television Commission said screening so many of the shows was putting diversity in jeopardy and threatening other dramas. In its final annual report before it makes way for new body, Ofcom, the ITC said ITV1 gave a "patchy performance" in 2002

The network was badly hit by a drop in advertising revenue but has since pumped extra cash into ensuring its output is improved, particularly for drama. Although praised in some areas of its programming, the ITC concluded: "There was some popular excellence, but also some less inspired output." ITV produced a "good range and volume of drama" with The Forsyte Saga and Dr Zhivago seen as "landmark" programmes.

But the ITC warned: "The introduction of a fifth weekly instalment (of Coronation Street) in addition to five editions of Emmerdale is in danger or posing a threat to diversity in peak time." Emmerdale is on daily at 7pm throughout the week and Corrie is screened on four nights with a double bill on Mondays. Between them the shows account for 10 hours of viewing in peak-time - 6pm to 10.30pm.

The ITC noted the success of Pop Idol as one of ITV's top performers in 2002, but pointed out that old entertainment favourites such as Blind Date and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? were less reliable for ratings than they once were.

Mum Eileen's a belter
8 April 2003
Coronation Street heart throb Jason Grimshaw may think he's a tough guy - but he proves no match for his mum.

Eileen, played by Sue Cleaver, is furious when Jason (Ryan Thomas) begins meeting his good-for-nothing father, Tony Stewart (Alan Igbon). Tony abandoned Eileen when Jason was young and she can never forgive him. And when she discovers Jason has been seeing him in secret she sees it as a betrayal. She is so angry she thumps him one!

Jason moves out and goes to live with his father, but the intrigue doesn't stop there. Jason finds himself attracted to Tony's much younger partner. A complicated - and steamy - love triangle beckons.

Jealous Steve kicked out by Karen
8 April 2003
Steve McDonald's idiotic jealously looks likely to drive wife Karen into the arms of another man in Coronation Street.

Mini-cab driver Steve, played by Simon Gregson, became convinced that Karen was having an affair with her boss Joe Carter after the pair had to stay overnight at a hotel on a business trip. Steve hit the bottle but couldn't get his wife, played by Suranne Jones, out of his mind. He telephoned the hotel where she was staying only to discover only one room had been booked - in Joe Carter's name! He took solace in the arms of another woman he picked up in the wine bar - and the next morning just managed to bundle her out of the front door before Karen returned.

She missed Steve so much she spent a small fortune on a cab to come home. Wracked by guilt Steve admitted his one night stand, and in a forthcoming episode furious Karen kicks him out. "Steve may have ruined everything," Simon told All About Soap magazine, "And it's possible that he's now given Karen free rein to do whatever she wants with Joe, without any guilt. "And he's a good looking guy and a successful businessman."

Steve and Karen have stuck together through some turbulent times, but will their marriage be strong enough to survive this?

Ex-Corrie star suffers for her art
7 April 2003
Former Coronation Street star Tracy Shaw has told how she has been in tears as she suffers for her art – by having a painful waxing treatment for her stage role. The star appears completely naked on stage in the play The Blue Room and was required to have all of her body hair removed.

Shaw – who formerly played Corrie crimper Maxine Peacock – told next week’s Radio Times that she had to take tablets to dull the pain. “It hurts like hell,” she told the magazine, which is published on Tuesday. “I had to be waxed all over because I appear naked. I cry each time I get waxed. “And I always take two painkillers an hour before an appointment,” she said.

Tracy's secret new guy
6 April 2003 by Dan Evans, Stephen Hayward And Sara Nuwar; additional reporting: Ryan Parry and James Saville
TROUBLED actress Tracy Shaw is being helped through her marriage problems by a handsome computer expert. Tracy, 29, and Ashley Poundall, 30, even enjoyed an intimate meal just after Valentine's Day after the actress had spent a week performing at Richmond Theatre.

The former Corrie star has been seen dashing off stage after performances of her sexy new play The Blue Room to share giggly phone calls with Ashley - who looks uncannily like her husband TV producer, Robert Ashworth. Tracy's 21-month marriage to Robert, 31, has been showing deep cracks. Last month the Sunday Mirror revealed how their rocky marriage had reached such a low point that Robert had approached a lawyer with a view to divorce.

Tracy and Ashley grew up in the same Derbyshire town, and she has been turning to him for support in recent weeks. Friends now say that Ashley has been living life on a high since the couple re-kindled their childhood friendship. "Ashley has become very close to Tracy over the past few months," said one insider. "He's been very supportive while she's been going through some problems at home. "They've been mates since they were kids and find each other very easy company. Tracy has been seen giggling into her phone at night - and she wasn't talking to her husband. "Everyone knows Tracy has been having difficulties with her marriage, and Ashley has provided her with a shoulder to cry on."

The friends, both avid Derby County fans, enjoyed a £150 meal at the fashionable Prego restaurant in Richmond, Surrey, on Sunday, February 16, the night after she finished her run at the nearby theatre. The chic Mediterranean restaurant - a popular celebrity haunt - is close to the Richmond Theatre where Tracy had performed every night during Valentine's week.

Co-starring with Jason Connery, Tracy has hit the headlines for her racy nude scenes in the production. After her stint in Richmond, Tracy went to Eastbourne with the rest of the cast of The Blue Room. Last night a source at the Richmond restaurant said: "She has been in here with a man quite a few times recently. She was here in February and again a couple of weeks ago."

Handsome Ashley, six-foot tall and athletically-built, lives in a luxury executive home in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, just a few miles from where Tracy was performing. He dresses in designer labels and owns a £41,000 convertible TVR sports car and Jeep Cherokee 4X4. Friends say she and Ashley have kept in close touch and describe how the actress has blossomed since she started spending time with him.

But in fact, their strong links goes back to childhood. Both come from the Derbyshire mill town of Belper, where Tracy's parents Ann and Karl ran the local pub. She studied at St Benedict's school in nearby Darley Abbey, before joining Arden Drama School in Manchester. Bachelor Ashley, who works for technology giant Cisco Systems, went to Ecclesbourne school in Belper, then took a degree at Liverpool John Moores University.

Speculation has been rife in recent weeks that Tracy and Robert have been battling to save their marriage. The couple have spent long periods apart since Tracy quit her £95,000 Coronation Street part four months ago - where her screen husband was also called Ashley - and took The Blue Room on tour. Robert has been seen without his wedding ring and Tracy's Jeep-style 4x4 and MGF sports car have gone from the marital home near Manchester. A friend revealed: "When she got the part they both discussed how it would affect their marriage. Tracy was going to be away for several months so she suggested he came along with his camera to record her stage debut. "But he said he felt like a fish out of water following her around and came home."

The disagreement follows a series of bitter rows. Just last week Robert was pictured at the couple's Manchester home minus his wedding ring, while Tracy was pictured drinking champagne in a Londonderry bar after performing her play in the city. Friends say the marriage between Robert and Tracy - whose Corrie character, hairdresser Maxine Peacock, was killed off by murderous Richard Hillman last December - has always run hot and cold. They have had a series of public bust-ups since they married 21 months ago in a lavish ceremony at Merseyside's Knowsley Hall. Pictures of the wedding fetched £250,000 from a glossy magazine, but the strain on the relationship is now becoming glaringly obvious.

A source close to the couple said: "You always get the impression that she wants Robert to work around her career. "She calls him all the time, wanting to know what he's doing, who he's with, and what he's working on. There's always been a strong sense of mistrust. When they are out socially together, Tracy can appear very controlling. It must be very self-destructive. "They would have rows about anything and everything. One minute they would be fine, and the next an argument would blow up. "Once, when they were out in a club in Manchester, Tracy thought that Robert had spent too long chatting to a pretty barmaid.
"When he got back to the table, she dug her nails into him and hissed, 'You know what that's for'. She stormed out and he followed her. "That happened a lot - even at Granada studios when she was on Coronation Street. They would argue in the dressing room, not caring who heard. But just as they hit the lows, they would also hit the highs. When they are happy together they are really radiant couple."

The public spats include Tracy's infamous attack on her husband during a BA flight back from the Cayman Islands in January 2001 - the second time they had clashed on a jet. The row erupted after the pair had been drinking champagne on a long-haul flight back from filming ITV 1's Wish You Were Here. Robert tried to recline his seat to take a nap when the cabin signs were asking passengers to keep them upright. Witnesses said Tracy started hitting Robert because he was ignoring the sign. "It was whack, whack, whack! It was unbelievable," one said. Another added: "She was using every swear word in the dictionary. He bit her on her hand and she wailed for about five minutes."

On another occasion she gave Robert a roasting after he had an accident in her new sports car. Insiders say the rows have always characterised the relationship. But where in the past the couple would kiss and make up, recently the reconciliations have been taking longer. Now Tracy, who admits to using cocaine in the past and who has battled the slimming disease anorexia nervosa, has sent her mum to collect her cars from the marital home.

Last night Robert's sister-in-law Carol Ashworth said Tracy's friendship was a shock. "It's news to me and will definitely be news to anyone in the family," she said. Asked about his relationship with Tracy, Ashley at first denied knowing her. Later when confronted with our evidence, he said: "I don't wish to comment. That is the position I am taking."

Last night Tracy, who has been performing this week in Cork, Republic of Ireland, refused to comment.

I'd run a mile if I met a girl like Karen
6 April 2003 by Billy Sloan
CORRIE star Simon Gregson is a lucky man... he's got fame, a £160,000 red Ferrari and has just been asked to race single-seater sports cars. If that's not enough for any red-blooded young man he gets paid for being married to stunning Suranne Jones.

Simon, 29 and still single, reckons there are worse jobs than getting up close and personal with one of the sexiest actresses on British television. The price he pays is regularly being thumped as Steve and Karen McDonald have another of their famous Coronation Street bust-ups. He says: "I'm always black and blue after being constantly whacked by Suranne. We did a scene recently in which Karen stormed back into the flat and punched Steve on the face. "If it looked real that's because it was. I forgot to move and she hit me full on. "All those little slaps on the head and belts on the arm can be painful."

It's not always one-way traffic though. Simon says: "We shot another scene in which Suranne jumps on top of me while I'm lying on the sofa to give me a kiss. "We collided and our teeth hit together. I ended with a chipped front tooth but I made Suranne's nose bleed and accidentally kicked her in the shin."

The McDonalds are heading for another crisis two years after they got married for a bet. One of them strays... and believe it or not it isn't flirty Karen. A few weeks back, jealous Steve chucked her out of their flat above the Kabin newsagents'. He accused her of having a fling with Joe Carter (Jonathan Wrather), her boss at the Underworld knicker factory.

It's not often Corrie fans feel much sympathy for mouthy Karen but she has stayed faithful to Steve despite heavy pressure from Joe to jump into bed. In the next few episodes, taxi firm boss Steve's love for Karen is stretched to the limit. His wife insists on accompanying Joe to a trade fair and reveals she'll have to stay overnight. Steve is livid and when he tries to check up on Karen at the hotel they're booked into he really blows a fuse.

In a break from filming the dramatic episodes, Simon lifted the lid on this latest twist in the couple's volatile relationship. "Steve phones the hotel and asks to speak to Karen," he said. "But the receptionist says there isn't a room booked under the name McDonald, only Carter. "Steve assumes Karen is sharing Joe's room. He doesn't realise his wife is using another room booked for Mike Baldwin who was originally going on the trip."

Steve is so angry he goes to a bar to drown his sorrows. After a few drinks, he picks up a girl named Julie Roxburgh, played by Claire Harris, and they are soon back at his flat and leaping into bed. Simon said: "Steve has a one night stand with a gorgeous girl - but the following morning is so full of remorse he can't get her out of the flat quick enough. "That's the twist in the plot. We think all along that it is going to be Karen who succumbs to temptation but it's Steve. "He's really sorry and feels even more guilty when Karen comes back early and insists nothing happened between her and Joe. Steve can't believe how stupid he has been and confesses. Karen immediately throws him out."

Will it be the end of their tempestuous relationship? "I hope not," said Simon, "because Steve really does love Karen. Deep down, I think that despite all their problems, they know they're right for each other. "When Karen and Steve meet on the Street they usually end up in a screaming match because of some petty argument. It's all mouth. When the pair of them get home they snuggle up on the couch, all kissy and cuddly, watching some Disney film on the telly.

So what keeps them together? "They have an absolutely fantastic sex life," joked Simon. "She is a complete vixen in the bedroom. Seriously, though, there have been times when Steve has regretted marrying her. Karen is a complete challenge but it's one he's never going to win. The chase is always there. Life is never boring when she is around. In the past, Steve has been a bit of a wide boy. He's spent time in prison and was always on the look out for a good scam. "What I like about the character is that he's a guy who's been there, seen it, done it. Now I think he's grown up a little and mellowed. A lot of that is down to Karen - he's met his match. But he will never tame her. A lion couldn't tame Karen McDonald. "He's trying to chill out a little and have an easy life. But he's married to a complete lunatic and that makes things a bit difficult. "Every time he comes home it's an adventure because he never knows what she's going to do next - massage his feet or chuck the microwave at him. So there's so much more scope for a bit of comedy."

Simon loves playing it for laughs with sexy co-star Suranne and reckons their non-stop battles are reminiscent of the squabbling Duckworths across the cobbles. He's become close friends with the actress. He told me: "I've never met anybody as funny as Suranne. It's a joy to work with her. She's an extremely talented actress. From rehearsal to take, every single scene is different from the last. "But if I met somebody like Karen McDonald in real life I wouldn't a mile ... I'd run about four miles. If there is a Karen out there God help the guy she's with."

Simon joined the Corrie cast in 1989 when the McDonald clan - dad Jim (Charlie Lawson), mum Liz (Bev Callard) and brother Andy (Nick Cochrane) - moved into No.11. In that time Steve's run a print firm, a building company and a cigarettes and alcohol smuggling scam, which led to him being jailed for three years. His first marriage, to heiress Vicky Arden, ended when he tried to make her take the rap for one of his crimes. He also had a steamy romance with hairdresser Fiona Middleton but got dumped when he bedded her best friend, Maxine Peacock.

Playing Britain's most recognisable taxi boss has transformed Simon's life. "I was only 15 when I started playing him and after a couple of years going out at the weekend was nightmare. Everyone seemed to want to pick a fight or wind you up," he said. "But in recent years, things have changed. There was a period in Steve's life when he was quite an unlikeable person. It became almost fashionable to hate Steve. Now, I think most people think he's just a loveable rogue."

Appropriately enough for a man who plays a taxi driver, Steve's big passion is cars. He's just bought a gleaming 160mph classic Ferrari - one of only 540 in the UK. "I love tinkering about with cars and buy all the car magazines," admitted Simon, "I've also got an old vintage Vauxhall which I'm restoring. But the Ferrari was virtually delivered still in bubble wrap. It's a show- winning classic car so I've not had to do a thing to it. "I was also asked to race single seater sports cars but it depends on whether I can get time off. They probably think that as I'm a cabbie I'll automatically be a maniac driver."

But he probably won't be looking for a career in race driving. He said: "I'd miss Steve McDonald and it would feel odd to move on to something else. The cast and crew of Coronation Street are probably among the closest friends I've got. I'd miss them all, too."

Change you chat-ups
6 April 2003
FELLAS, stop using the same chat-up lines on Corrie cop ANGELA LONSDALE - she's sick of them.

Angela, who plays Emma Watts , tells me: "I've fed-up of men saying 'Any chance of a body search?' or 'If you want to handcuff me, I won't resist'. I get it all the time and it's getting on my nerves."

Chris Gascoyne
CHRIS GASCOYNE, who plays Corrie love-rat Peter Barlow, was clocked in a supermarket recently. He says: "I saw a woman pointing at me and asking her husband, 'Don't we know him?' I said, 'Think TV' and she replied very loudly, 'Oh yes, I remember, you're the fella who fixed the satellite dish on our roof'."

Shelley's real life love headache
6 April 2003
Rovers Return's bubbly barmaid Shelley Unwin is having a hard time with her men at the minute.

But the girl behind the character just wishes she could get a minute to meet a bloke in the first place. "At the moment I haven't got time to meet anyone else," said Corrie actress Sally Lindsay.

And even if she did meet someone, she fears that she might put the frighteners on the fellas. "I think at present I might scare men away because I'm so much larger than life and quite brash. "Maybe some men might be put off by that. Anyway, I'd rather not have a boyfriend than have the wrong one," she said.

Bar girl Shelley is currently planning her wedding to Peter Barlow, who in fact has promised to marry the woman he has been seeing behind Shelley's back. The plot line has been keeping Street fans happy after the demise of serial killer Tricky Dicky - and keeping Sally in the public eye. "I've never experienced anything like the fame that goes with Coronation Street. "It is quite frightening sometimes and I'm a very reluctant star."

Soap hunks on look-out for fast love
6 April 2003
Two former soap hunks are on the look out for some love in the fast lane in a new express dating game.

Former Hollyoaks heartthrob Will Mellor, now starring in Casualty, will join ex-Coronation Street bad boy Chris Bisson to find their perfect date - but they'll only have three minutes to do it. The two will join thousands of single men and women from across the UK for a charity event in London in May.

In a rapid search for romance, each will get three minutes to get to know one of the other candidates. After their time is up, they must put a tick next to "yes" or "no" on a card, and then move on to the next potential partner.

One week later, all those pairs who liked each other are put in touch by party organisers - the rest will be up to them. It certainly seems a lot less complicated than finding dates in soapland.

Some might hope to avoid Chris Bisson, whose character Vikram Desai was the street's resident womaniser before disappearing from the street with Steve McDonald's money. But one thing is for certain - all the lads will be hoping for a "yes" from page three girl Jakki Degg, who is also in the game, called The Big Match. The event, which stems from New York, will raise money for a charity which gives disabled, sick or underprivileged access to computer equipment and teaching.

Samia Ghadie
5 April 2003
CORONATION Street's Samia Ghadie isn't just a pretty face - as well as juggling a busy acting career, the young actress is also studying psychology.

She says: "It's a fascinating subject and I've been looking into getting an Open University course. I've not got the time to enrol on a full- time course, but psychology will help with acting as I'll find out more about how people tick."

Tracy sheds the Corrie image along with all her clothes
1 April 2003 by Miriam Lord
Jason Connery, who plays The Student, and former Coronation Street actress Tracy Shaw (The Married Woman) taking part in David Hare's 'The Blue Room' which opened last night in the Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork and runs until next Saturday.

THERE were those who paid to see David Hare's play 'The Blue Room'. And there were those who paid to see Tracy Shaw, better known as Corrie's Maxine-luv, in the buff. And there were those who paid to find out if Jason Connery - who's very agile on stage - still has a quiver from his old Robin of Sherwood days. For this is equal opportunities nudity.

But in the main, expectations in Cork's Everyman Theatre last night lay somewhere in the middle. Although it must be said, stalwart first nighters of this venerable Victorian playhouse were augmented by an unusually large number of young men.

"I'd say tonight is the first time in a theatre for that lot," observed one regular, as a group of lads swigged Budweiser at the interval and giggled among themselves. It was agreed by the regulars that the mobile phones going off in the audience, along with the determined rustling of sweet wrappers and the few shrieks when Jason turned full frontal, was down to the Coronation Street brigade in for the look at the late Mrs Peacock. Nobody, by the way, came to protest. Those days are gone. Not even for a play with the advance billing of "notorious erotic masterpiece".

The scandalised matrons of Montenotte are no more. If anything, they were more likely to indulge in hand-to-hand fighting over the opera glasses during one of Jason Connery's strips than to put a picket on the place. Of course, it was Nicole Kidman who put this play on the map, grabbing the headlines when she appeared in the London premiere five years ago and bared her elegant bottom to rapturous drooling in the media. As a result of disrobing in public, she even made it onto the cover of Newsweek. Her latest replacement, Ms Shaw - or the now tragically deceased Maxine - is no stranger to magazine covers and spreads either. A staple of the English celebrity gossip mags, Tracy has something of a reputation for wearing as little as possible. But in 'The Blue Room', she doesn't need to resort to the magic toupee tape to keep her decolletage on the decent side of absent. Consequently, Tracy/Maxine's assets were a topic for quite a deal of discussion during the 20 minute interval last night.

"Very thin . . . Very big feet . . . Very brave . . . Very pert . . . Ashley might marry the Nanny . . . Very soft-spoken."... That last one can be a bit of a hindrance in the theatre.

Mr Connery, son of Sean, meanwhile, made quite an impression on the ladies. Although one of them, speaking admiringly of his physique afterwards, declared, "when he turned to face the audience the first time he took off his clothes, I was thinking - 007? More like 003-and-a-half, and that's being generous!" Ouch. After all, it wasn't billed as an appearance by the Chippendales.

It was in the early, heady Nicole Kidman days, that the man from The Daily Telegraph wrote himself into the showbiz quotation anthologies when he slobbered, in the course of a besotted review, that the play, not to mention the delectable Ms Kidman, was "Pure Theatrical Viagra". The play, directed by Joe Harmston, is stylish and entertaining, and Ms Shaw isn't half the, er, woodener she was when playing Ashley's ditzy wife in Coronation Street. She plays a number of roles alongside Connery in a production which follows a chain of sexual encounters between different people.

However, lest there be worries about lay-offs down the road at Pfizer, the Cork locals needn't fret. 'The Blue Room' doesn't pose a threat. The only connection between Pfizer's famous riser and this enjoyable outing is the colour of the pharmaceutical lozenge.

The combined pulling power of David Hare, a Corrie star and nudity saw the Everyman record its highest advance ticket sales in its history.

Street fighting woman
1 April 2003
A woman scorned is a dangerous thing, as Coronation Street's Steve McDonald is about to find out. Wife Karen (Suranne Jones) lays into him with her fists then throws him out of their flat when she arrives home to find he's been bedding another woman. "She has belted him in the past but she's never exploded like this before," a Street insider told the Daily Mirror.

It's the latest outburst in their volatile relationship. Recently Steve (Simon Gregson) threw Karen out because he thought she was having a relationship with slimy boss Joe Carter (Jonathan Wrather). Ironically, the latest drama happens because Karen comes home early from a rag trade fair to prove to Steve that she loves him and not her boss.

But he has been out drowning his sorrows and has picked up blonde Julie (Claire Harris) as consolation. "The more he drinks, the more he pictures Karen and Joe together," said the insider. "That's when he meets Julie and takes her back to his flat." He manages to get her out just in time but, faced with the obvious evidence of his philandering, he has to come clean - with devastating results. "That's the cue for some of the most dramatic scenes we've ever had between them," added the insider. "This is her going at full tilt - and poor Steve knows it."

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