Anne Kirkbride (Deirdre Barlow), Chris Gascoyne (Peter Barlow) and Helen Worth (Gail McIntyre) were at Preston Crown Court yesterday in the William Roache sex abuse court case.
Coronation Street actor William Roache was "always a perfect gentleman", his on-screen wife has told a court. Anne Kirkbride, who plays Deirdre Barlow, was one of a number of cast members giving evidence at the actor's trial at Preston Crown Court. Asked what she thought of Mr Roache, Ms Kirkbride said if she was to describe him in one word, it would be "lovely".
Chris Gascoyne, who plays Peter Barlow, said Mr Roache was "fantastic", "very calm, relaxed," and a person who "takes every day as a new day which is inspiring to me. Bill sets the precedent for everyone. He is decent and kind to everybody," he said.
Helen Worth, who plays neighbour Gail McIntyre, described Mr Roache as "a father figure, an elder statesman. He was caring, never anything more. Just caring. What more can a man be? He was lovely," she said.
Ms Worth, 63, was "extremely nervous" when she joined the show in 1974, aged 23, the court heard. Helen Worth, who plays neighbour Gail McIntyre, smiled at Mr Roache when she left the witness box She said: "But Bill perhaps was caring more and welcoming to me then. And [he] has been to every new member of the cast since," she added.
Asked by Louise Blackwell QC, defending, if she had seen Mr Roache in the company of young female cast members.
She said that she had and that she "never saw anything that was untoward whatsoever in 40 years".
Ms Worth smiled at Mr Roache when she left the witness box. Mr Roache waved back from the dock.
The case continues.
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