Amanda Barrie enters Celebrity Big Brother house

Amanda Barrie, best known to us Corrie fans as Alma from Coronation Street, has joined the latest series of Celebrity Big Brother.

The new series of CBB is an all-female one and Amanda is one of eight women in the house this year.  She tells the press she's entered the house to 'take her mind off dying'. 

While she's in there, her wife Hilary Bonner is running Amanda's twitter account here.

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Where are they now? Corrie Icons of the 80s - Amanda Barrie

Here we go with a look back at some of the Coronation Street icons from the 1980s. Let's find out what they've been up to since they left the show.

Amanda Barrie played Alma Baldwin

Amanda played Alma in Coronation Street from 1981 to 2001.

Since leaving Coronation Street, Amanda has appeared on TV in Bad Girls, The Real Marigold Hotel, Benidorm as Psychic Sue, Doctors, Holby City.

She will soon be on screens again in a new series as Hillary in The Bar Mitzvah  

And she has also received an Icon Award for outstanding achievement from Attitude Magazine.

In 2016 Amanda married her partner Hilary Bonner.

Read Graeme's wonderful interview with Amanda Barrie

See also: I was Alma Baldwin's Body Double!

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Amanda Barrie on why she loves being 'Alma-ed'

Former Coronation Street star Amanda Barrie, 81 - who played Alma Baldwin - has returned to TV in a new series called The Baby Boomers' Guide to Growing Old,

The Baby Boomers’ Guide to Growing Old is a four part series on Channel 4 and sees Amanda and twelve other famous over-65s, including Johnny Ball, 79, Esther Rantzen, 76, ex-EastEnders star Laila Morse, 71, and comedian Roy Hudd, 81, explore different aspects of ageing, from cosmetic surgery to living the dream in retirement, from  the physical to the romantic!

Amanda was interviewed by What's on TV magazine about ageing, hypnotism and says she still gets lots of attention from loyal Corrie fans!

“Yes I do! I" she says. "I call it getting Alma-ed. I’ve had some really funny ones. I got recognised in India, would you believe? The funniest one was in Venice where some people were leaning over the famous Rialto Bridge yelling ‘Alma!’ I couldn’t believe it, but am always delighted when it happens!”

Read the full interview here.

Read our blogger Graeme's wonderful interview with Amanda Barrie here.

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Video: Star Lives - Amanda Barrie Story

With thanks to Coronation Street fan Barrie Turnbull for alerting us to a couple of little gems. Barrie  has found a couple of lovely little Coronation Street specials via the wonders of YouTube, as follows.

The first one is called: Coronation Street - They're Back! It's a Coronation Street: Granada Plus Special from 1996. You can watch it here and find out more.

And this one is called: Star Lives - Amanda Barrie Story

This special interview hosted by Carol Vorderman, celebrated Amanda Barrie's career up to June 2001 when it was broadcast. Featuring contributions from Johnny Briggs, Kevin Kennedy, Barbara Knox, Sue Nicholls, Willam Roache, Helen Worth and carry-on star Barbara Windsor.

You can watch it here:

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Corrie legend joins The Real Marigold Hotel

Amanda Barrie, who played Alma Baldwin in Coronation Street, is among a new crop of stars embarking on the journey of a lifetime when travel documentary series The Real Marigold Hotel returns.

The hit series – inspired by the 2011 film starring Dame Judi Dench – will be back next year.

The new cast also includes Dennis Taylor, Rustie Lee, Doctor Miriam Stoppard, Bill Oddie, Sheila Ferguson, Lionel Blair and  Paul Nicholas.

The programme follows eight senior citizens as they head to India to see if they would consider retiring to the other side of the world.

The new four-part run will see the group travel to Kochi, a city in the south-west Indian state Kerala, to test whether they can set up a more rewarding retirement than in the UK.


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I was Alma Baldwin's body double in Coronation Street

Irene Estry (right) with Amanda Barrie as Alma Baldwin (left)

Every now and then on Twitter, I’ll spot something intriguing involving Coronation Street.  It could be a stage show featuring an ex-Corrie cast member. Or it might be a personal appearance from someone currently on the show. Usually, it’s something fun and friendly that fans have been up to, which makes it perfect for inclusion on the Coronation Street Blog. 

And this week, a tweet caught my eye which made me smile a great deal.  It came from a lady called Irene Estry, who’s on twitter @IreneEstry.  Irene’s tweet said that she used to be the body double for Alma Baldwin in Coronation Street... well I had to find out more! And when I started to research Irene Estry, I discovered that there’s a lot more to her than being Alma’s body double in Corrie.  We’ll get to that bit, of course, but let me tell you about Irene first.

Irene Estry trained as a fitness teacher and choreographer in the 1980s. At the age of 41 she became the first teacher in the north outside of London and this was right at the start of the health club and fitness boom. In 1982 the very first health club of its kind opened in Manchester, called Drummonds. Irene received a call from Drummonds’ owner to ask if she would teach there – and he invited ITV and some of the cast of Coronation Street to come along to the opening. 

Irene says: “Everyone joined in, and Pat Pheonix (Elsie Tanner) asked me into the ITV studios to teach her privately, and it all escalated from there.  Over 35 years later, most of the cast at some stage have worked with me. They used to call me ‘The Healthy Lunchtime Option!’”

Irene continues to work freelance now, offering her fitness and wellbeing programme, to many clients, including some of the current Coronation Street cast. 

So, how did a fitness teacher end up being called into action on the set of Coronation Street as a body double for Alma Baldwin?

Irene tells us that when Amanda Barrie, who played Alma, joined the Coronation Street cast, it was remarked on at ITV how similar she looked to Amanda. “So Amanda Barrie and I finally met,” Irene says. “We used to giggle about looking like twinnies. And then they asked me to stand in for Amanda when she had to take time off work. And so I did a few walk-on scenes in her clothes over that period.”  

After Alma passed away on screen from cervical cancer, years later Mike Baldwin developed dementia in the soap. And in one of Mike’s final scenes when he is wandering the streets crying, he calls out for Alma, and imagines that he can see her.  

In that scene, Irene was filmed as Alma.  She says: “I had to walk out of the Rovers Return, look at him in bewilderment and quietly walk away. In that scene you see my face, and they had made me up like Amanda, she is much lighter skinned then me.”

So there we have it – a tiny little snippet on twitter revealed a wonderful woman. Irene Estry tells me that at 75 years young, she truly believes that age is no barrier to achievement. Certainly, her infectious enthusiasm for life and her energy came over in the interview and it was an absolute pleasure to have interviewed her for our fan website.

Discover more at Irene’s website: http://www.ireneestry.co.uk/

Read Irene’s book - Growing Old Disgracefully: The Mature Woman's Manual
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Growing-Old-Disgracefully-Mature-Womans/dp/0957570716

Follow Irene on twitter @ireneestry

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YAY or NAY: Should Alma return to Corrie?

Yes I know you probably all think I'm completely bonkers but stay with me for a moment. I absolutely love Amanda Barrie and I think she's a cracking actress. As Alma, she created one of my all time favourite Coronation Street characters. I think it was a crying shame that Alma was killed off when Amanda decided to leave the Street as I always thought she'd be a character that could pop back now and then.

Amanda has gone on to play other roles on stage and screen since she left Corrie but in a recent interview the actress made it clear that she still misses Weatherfield life. Indeed she still dreams about working on Corrie. As she very obviously has great affection for the show, this made me wonder if a return was completely dead in the water.

 

After all, characters returning from the dead isn't exactly new in the increasingly bizarre world of the soap opera. Only last year Anne Charleston reprised her iconic Neighbours role as Madge Bishop to celebrate thirty years of the Australian soap. And just a few months ago we saw Pam St Clement back for a brief appearance as Pat Butcher from the other side as Barbara Windsor's Peggy breathed her last in Albert Square. 

Now, I'm not saying we should bring Alma back to say goodbye to another iconic character, however as Alma still has strong links to two current cast members (Sue Nicholls' Audrey and Helen Worth's Gail) I think it would be great fun to reunite these wonderful Corrie ladies one last time. Perhaps Ken could propose to Audrey who then turns to her oldest (and albeit dead) friend for advice? Coronation Street rarely does two hander episodes but I bet a half hour devoted to Audrey and Alma would be fantastic viewing and a chance for the writing team to create some gems.

Of course this is all bonkers as I said at the beginning, but I can still dream. And it would help right the wrong of Amanda's original departure from Corrie back in 2001. So what do you think about a return for Alma for one night only? YAY or NAY?

 

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Picking Your Favourites

 

The other day on Twitter I was asked to pick my seven favourite Coronation Street characters. An enjoyable bit of fun but it probably reveals more about ourselves, what we like and what we don't than we might immediately think. 

For anyone interested, my pick of characters were: Alma Baldwin, Audrey Roberts, Hilda Ogden, Betty Turpin, Annie Walker, Ena Sharples and Elsie Tanner. For those who know me there aren't many surprises there. Of course they are all women but that's not necessarily surprising as the foundations of Corrie have always been strong, vibrant female characters. Also, only one of my top seven are currently appearing in the show - Audrey. The rest are either dead on screen or in real life. 

I've always said I prefer much of what has gone before in Corrie than what we have now and that's not to say there aren't plenty of positives today before anyone cuts in! My friend and fellow blogger Emma also took part and she went the other way, choosing seven male characters. I was surprised by this, particularly in her penchant for Pat Phelan and Peter Barlow, but perhaps she was having an off day...

 

Anyway, with daft games like this it's sometimes more about who you leave out than who you include. For me, there were a few who nearly made the cut - Mavis, beautifully brought to life by that wonderful actress Thelma Barlow and yes, two men - Mike Baldwin, the best, more enduring Corrie character I've loved to hate and that lovable rogue Jack Duckworth portrayed by the sublime Bill Tarmey for so many years.

One of the hardest choices was not to include either Emily or Rita. If I had to pick I'd probably go for Emily as Eileen Derbyshire has kept her closest to her original character. Emily has matured in an extremely believable way and Derbyshire's quiet, non-showy performances are perhaps only know seen for what they are now she's no longer in the show. By the way, ITV , is Emily ever coming back? If Eileen has decided to quietly withdraw, please just tell us so we can respect her decision, wish her well and move on. 

Anyway, have a go yourself, which seven Corrie characters would you pick as your favourites?

 

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Amanda Barrie on Alma, sexuality and dreaming of a Corrie return

There's a wonderful interview with Amanda Barrie, who played the fab Alma Baldwin in Coronation Street, in the Daily Record.

In it, Amanda talks about coming out when she was in her 60s, and how she kept her sexuality a secret while she worked at Coronation Street for fear of her job.

She says: “I did my autobiography(*) when I came out of Corrie. I did it because I was being hounded by people asking about my sexuality, which had always been a confusion to me, never mind anyone else.

“I did the book because I thought, ‘I’m putting my side of how it is’. I wanted it off my chest. It had caused a tremendous amount of anxiety throughout all my life. I was so terrified about coming out because it’s more complicated than that.”

“If you did it now, nobody would even notice. But, at the time, nobody at Coronation Street – apart from my very close friends Helen Worth, Sue Nicholls and Barbara Knox – knew about me. I was terrified as there was an attitude then that certain people wouldn’t have worked with you. It was taboo. Now, it’s running thick with gay, camp people and gay women and gay men.”

Amanda joined Coronation Street as Alma Sedgewick in 1981. When she decided to leave after 20 years, Alma was killed off, quickly, with cervical cancer.

She went on to appear in ITV’s Bad Girls and BBC 1’s Holby City but says she still misses Weatherfield.

She said: “I’ve no regrets over leaving as I got offered a part in Bad Girls. But I have dream after dream where I’m back in it.”

Read the full interview here.

(*) Amanda Barrie's autobiography 'It's Not a Rehearsal' is a fantastic read, by far my favourite of all the Coronation Street actors' books I've ever read.

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Top 25 Favourite Corrie Females - No. 15

15. ALMA HALLIWELL (181 VOTES)

Duration: 1981-1982, 1988-2001
Played by: Amanda Barrie
2012 character poll position (women): 15

Introduced as the wife of café owner Jim Sedgewick and later takes over the café when they divorce in 1982. After immigrating to Florida, she returns to Weatherfield in 1988 and takes a more hands-on role in the business. She forms a business partnership with Gail Tilsley in 1989 and over the years they become close friends.

Upon her return, she begins an on/off relationship with Mike Baldwin. After being dumped by him for Jackie Ingram in 1990 and briefly dating his nemesis Ken Barlow, Alma and Mike marry in 1992. The marriage was popular with fans as Alma’s sympathetic and liberal-minded persona clashed with Mike’s capitalism and greed. The Baldwins were married until Mike had an affair with Julia Stone in 1999.

In 1997 Alma was kidnapped by Don Brennan in an act of revenge against Mike for ruining every aspect of his life – job, business and love life. Don drove his taxi into the canal but both Alma and he survived. 

As well as Gail, Alma formed a close friendship with Gail’s mum Audrey Roberts. They enjoyed socialising over a gin and tonic in the Rovers and shopping in Manchester, but to the annoyance of their respected hubbies Mike and Alf. Both confided in each other about their problems although the friendship was tested when Alma revealed that she’d made a pass at Audrey’s son Stephen in 1996.

Alma sold her share of the café in 1996 to Roy Cropper and got a job on the tills in Firman’s Freezers, much to Mike’s chagrin. She was eventually promoted. She was involved in an armed siege in 2000 but escaped unhurt.

In 2001 Alma received the devastating that she had terminal cervical cancer. Now living with Audrey, she is nursed and care for by her friends and ex Mike is also by her side. She opts to die at home and she passes away surrounded by friends Audrey, Gail, Ken, Curly and Mike.

Were you a fan of Alma?

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Amanda Barrie to appear at the London Film Convention

The London Film Convention is now in its 42nd year. My attention has been drawn to this by one of my lovely Twitter followers (thanks Michael!) The Convention gives fans of classic film and television a chance to meet stars, have photos taken with them and go home with an autograph as a lovely memento.

The next Convention is due to take place on Saturday 19th September and although it's early days, there have already been some guests announced and one has a  strong Coronation Street connection! Leading the field is Carry On and Coronation Street legend, the lovely Amanda Barrie! Amanda of course starred in two Carry Ons, Cabby and Cleo before going on to spend many successful years working in British theatre. Amanda was a fan favourite in Corrie for nearly twenty years  as Alma Sedgewick / Baldwin. She first appeared as the cafe owner in 1981, returning again a year later before becoming permanent in 1989.

Amanda created one of my all time favourite Corrie characters so I'll definitely be going along to meet her at the Convention!

The London Film Convention will be taking place on Saturday 19th September, between 10am-5pm at Central Hall, Westminster, in Central London. 

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