Coronation Street star Anne Kirkbride has been playing the role of Deirdre Barlow since 1972, and in her time on the nation’s favourite street, Deirdre has been married several times, had numerous affairs and become a widow…

And as we reported earlier this week, Anne is to feature in a documentary on ITV entitled, Deidre And Me, which will tell the story of her four decades on the show.

However, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mirror, Anne has revealed that at times, she’s found working on the soap “soul destroying”.

The astonishing admission came when Anne told the paper, “For me working on Coronation Street can be soul destroying – it’s punishing.” Read more & comment »

Fans of Coronation Street star Anne Kirkbride – who of course plays the role of Deirdre Barlow – may be aware that the star has battled cancer for several years, and has had to undergo innumerable treatments to cope with the disease.

As a result of her battle with illness, Anne has apparently suffered from clinical depression for years, and in a forthcoming documentary, which will air on ITV1 next month, Anne speaks candidly about her fight with her illnesses.

Of her battle with cancer – she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1993 – Anne says, “I just thought I was going to die.”

Entitled Deirdre and Me, the film will also celebrate Anne’s four decades of playing Deirdre, who is of course instantly recognizable because of her trademark thick spectacles… Read more & comment »

We all knew it would only be a matter of time, now that Wendy Crozier was back on the scene, before Ken Barlow’s eye would wander in Coronation Street, and this may just well be the proof that it does!

Fans of the hit ITV soap will know how many moons ago, Ken’s (William Roache) marriage to Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride) was left in tatters following an affair he had with Crozier, damage that both he and Deirdre considered irreparable at the time.
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Coronation Street star Kate Ford, who of course plays Toxic Tracy Luv Barlow, has revealed that she suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is of course better known by its acronym, OCD.

While speaking to the Daily Mirror, Kate confessed, “In my 20s I did have really bad OCD – I’d check things continually.

“I could check the oven 20 times before going to bed and all the sockets had to be turned off.

“It’s like your brain gets stuck in a loop. I do still have a bit of OCD.”

She added, “When I’m in Manchester I do this thing on the phone with Jon every single night, where I go through a check-list of things he needs to do before he goes to bed.

“I say, ‘Have you checked the oven’s off? Have you checked you’ve locked the back door? Is the car locked? Is the intercom on to hear Otis? Is the alarm on?’”

Otis is of course Kate’s young son… Read more & comment »

Coronation Street residents Ken and Deirdre Barlow are both recidivist adulterers who’ve had more affairs than they’ve had hot dinners, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise to Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride) when she once again catches hubby Ken with another woman…

But she is both surprised and shocked when she follows Ken – after suspecting he’s up to something – and sees him paying a visit to his former mistress Wendy Crozier!

Wendy (Roberta Kerr) and Ken (Bill Roache) had an affair over twenty years ago, and since then, Wendy’s been married and widowed but she and Ken renewed their acquaintance as both battled for a place on the Board of Governors of Bessie Street Primary. Though quite why I can’t imagine given that neither have young children. But hey ho.

And Ken of course decided against informing Deirdre that he’d bumped into Wendy again, given that his affair with her ended up with Deirdre divorcing him… Read more & comment »

As we reported recently, when Coronation Street resident Deirdre Barlow overhears a row between Tyrone Dobbs and his pregnant fiancé Kirsty Soames, she’s then horrified to see that Kirsty has fallen and has cuts on her face…

So pretty much inevitably, Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride) begins to wonder if Tyrone (Alan Halsall) is an abusive husband, and as Natalie Gumede – who of course plays Kirsty – has revealed to Soaplife, her character won’t do anything to disabuse Deirdre of her incorrect assumption.

In fact, Natalie went on to say that Kirsty will even go so far as to leave Tyrone – after he suggests she seek counselling for her violent behaviour – and intimate that she’s leaving him because he’s violent towards her.

Describing Kirsty as “verging on evil,” Natalie said, “She knows she has to do something because she wants to save her relationship with Tyrone… Read more & comment »

It looks like karma has finally tracked down Tracy Barlow in Coronation Street, as she is about to be struck down with a serious kidney infection.

Fans of the award-winning show will know that back in the 90′s Tracy (Kate Ford) needed a kidney transplant from her mother’s toy boy husband, Samir Rachid, after a drug overdose during a night out, so when she starts to feel pain her one remaining good kidney, she knows how serious the situation might be.
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Coronation Street’s Tyrone Dobbs has of course become the victim of domestic violence as his increasingly unstable pregnant fiancé Kirsty Soames lashes out at him more and more frequently as her paranoia over his friendship with Fiz Stape (Jennie McAlpine) grows…

However, in an upcoming plot twist, rumours will spread on the Street that it is in fact Tyrone (Alan Halsall) who is the violent one!

That suspicion will become firmly entrenched when Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride) overhears a row between Kirsty (Natalie Gumede) and Tyrone, after which Kirsty ends up falling and cutting her head.

A show insider told the Daily Star, “When Deirdre sees Kirsty fall over after a tussle with Tyrone, she immediately jumps to the wrong conclusions.

“She starts to voice her concerns publicly, which upsets Tyrone, as the boot is actually on the other foot… Read more & comment »

Coronation Street star Anne Kirkbride only joined social networking site Twitter a few weeks ago, but she’s already been plagued by ‘trolls’ who have bombarded her with vile messages and insults.

Anne, who of course plays Deirdre Barlow, responded furiously to one nasty message by branding the poster a “t**t”.

Her response came after the Twitter user wrote, “Your skin is the exact kind of leather i want for my sofa.”

Furious Anne retorted, “How sweet of you to say. And you’re just the kind of tweeter I want for my collection of blocked t***s xxxxx.”

In May, soon after she joined Twitter, Anne was angered by a comment which read, “[You have] the best neck in soap”… Read more & comment »

As fans of Corrie will know, in amongst the dour drama, there are often moments of comic genius on-screen, and according to Alison King, who of course plays Carla Connor, her co-star Anne Kirkbride is the comedy go-to gal behind the scenes.

Alison has told the PA that Anne, who of course plays long suffering – and long necked – Deirdre Barlow, provides “the funniest tales and anecdotes.”

She said, “During filming and waiting for filming it’s pretty much madness.

“It’s Annie Kirkbride, she’s absolutely mad and when she’s in, it’s brilliant because you just hear the funniest tales and anecdotes.”

And of course, given that Carla is a recidivist widow and generally has a mostly hellish time with men, Alison could do with a laugh to lighten her working day. Read more & comment »

On screen they were bitter rivals, and now it would seem that not even death can end that rivalry, as former Coronation Street actor, Johnny Briggs proves by claiming that his female company count is considerably higher than that of William Roache’s.
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