Admittedly, I do not live a celebrity lifestyle. Not for me a designer mansion in Cheshire and a gallon of Premier Cru Bordeaux. However, another area of my life has brought me into contact with some of the great and not so great stars of TV. Oh yes - I've shared a cuppa and a chat with the likes of Noel Edmonds, Gloria Hunniford and Matthew Kelly. Names that will nothing to those of you peering at this page from Canadian shores. However, despite my love for Corrie and the irreverent ramblings I contribute here, I have
never met anyone from the Street.
There. I've said it. My sadness is shared with the world. Many years ago Simon Gregson waved to me. I once shared a departure lounge area at Manchester Airport with Sean Wilson (Martin Platt). Kym Marsh glared at me in London. That is as close as I've ever come to even whispering to a Corrie star.
Yet those around me seem to be bursting at the seams with Corrie-related experiences. A friend once served a cast member in an . . . "adult" shop in London, desperately trying not to exclaim "Oh! It's you!" Another mate, sharing an all-male household, was staggered to bump into a cast member emerging from the bathroom one morning. My younger sister once strolled up to an ice cream van on an housing estate only to discover that Pat Phoenix was dishing up the 99s! Most galling of all though was the admission of a friend, someone I'd known for over a decade, that he was related to one member of the cast but that the family had nothing to do with her because they all thought she was 'stuck up'.
Another good friend met Sue Nicholls on a train, had a lovely time chatting with her and then regaled me with the tale at some length.
In all honesty though, I've never actually gone looking for the great and good of Weatherfield so I'm hardly likely to bump into one of them in Waitrose. What about you? Have you rubbed shoulders with Rita or Bet? Did you once have a coffee with Curly? Were you bowled over by a chance encounter with Gina Seddon or Harry Flagg?
Whoever you met - I'm envious!
Follow the Coronation Street Blog on Twitter and Facebook
I once nearly bumped into Debbie Rush, and she was lovely and smiley.
ReplyDeleteSuranne Jones seemed nice too, if a little distant.
At four years old I was called on stage to meet Violet Carson at the Garrick Theatre in Stockport. I sat on her knee and she gave me a kiss. I had no idea who she was.
ReplyDeleteMy first encounter was too early for me to remember, but Sue Nichols picked me to win a beautiful baby competition - she was in Crossroads at the time.
ReplyDeleteIn about 1985 I met Pat Phoenix at the Opera House in Manchester- too bowled over to remember what she was like.
At uni in Manchester in mid 80s I was lucky enough to get a tour of the set and watch some filming.
Then in about 2001 Julie
Hesmondhalgh sat in front of me on the bus and I just couldn't resist talking to her - she was lovely.
And if anyone remembers Frank Skinner doing Corrie mentions on his show in the late 1990s I'll tell that story too.
Amanda B
I used to fly fish with Sean Wilson at rutland water in mid 90s, he was a really nice guy. We never talked about Corrie but he got some jibes from the other guys.
ReplyDeleteG
Just remembered another encounter - in the late 80s I worked with Meg Johnson (Eunice Gee), she was by far the lovliest person I've ever worked with. We spent New Years Eve together on a train one year from London to up North and we had the whole train to ourselves.
ReplyDeleteAnd I once saw Amanda Barrie in Covent Garden dressed head to toe in denim, carrying a yorkshire terrier.
Amanda B
We have had Corrie star events here in Halifax, Nova Scotia and i've had the chance to meet many of them, shake hands and pose for a photo. Twice i was on the organizing committee and we had a private dinner as well (Michael LeVell, Stephen Arnold) so I had a "close encounter" those evenings as well.
ReplyDeleteMy fella lives in Salford and has had a shop door held open for him by one cast member and has seen another in Sainsburys I think. His dad watched some filming around the corner from his flat one afternoon.
I've talked to kym marsh and family in Disneyland Paris, Peter gunn on a train, Sally dyvenour outside a music shop, Jennie mcalpine, Antony cotton, Jean Alexander, Tina o brien, ryan Thomas and samia chase out about in Manchester and finally Alison king at euston station. I work in Manchester so I'm very lucky :) all of them were really lovely too!
ReplyDeleteHold the phone, Tvor. Your fella lives in England and you're here in Canada? I am looking for this exact type of situation - do tell, how did you manage to find him? Any suggestions from the folk across the pond are also more than welcome! :)
ReplyDeleteI met my fella in a Coronation Street chat room 9 years ago. That chat room really isn't active anymore. We just hit it off. I had someone else i know locally meet him in person for a second opinion before i went to meet him in person myself and the rest is history. We have various reasons why we're still living on two continents but we see each other twice a year and chat all the time over the internet
ReplyDeleteHm. I've heard many great stories of people meeting over chat rooms. However, I just never know where to start. At least it does give me something to hope for. :)
ReplyDeleteI've met Adam Rickitt, he was lovely and kind.
ReplyDeleteI once walked past Granada studios and Jack Howarth (Albert Tatlock) was waiting on the other side of the road at the bus stop outside the studio gate. It was a bit of a surreal moment as it was just a very normal thing to be doing for a superstar such as Jack!
ReplyDeleteI met Patti Clare and Ben Price at the opening of Jonathan Harvey's Corrie! play in Liverpool last year. Patti was lovely, and obviously a completely different and more quiet personality than Mary. As for Ben Price, he seemed a bit distant and was loving the attention he was getting from a lot of the girls. They both posed for photos in the lobby before the show began, something they didn't have to do.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a friend waited outside Granada with an autograph book for the cast members as they left. There was quite a crowd and so a lot of the actors sped off quickly without stopping. Sally Dynevor stopped, and my friend said "Hi Sals!" to which she responded "I've never been called Sals before!" He was pleased to see that several months later Sally got called "Sals" on-screen, so who knows if that was an influence!
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed to hear that the crowd of autograph hunters boo the stars who go past without stopping. Eileen Derbyshire went past in the back of one car with her head between her legs and the crowd shouting all sorts of obscenities because she never stopped. It really upset me to hear it and I hope the crowds aren't like that still!