We take a look at the latest couple to run Coronation Street’s Rovers Return.
Jenny and Johnny Connor are taking over the Rovers Return on Coronation Street – which has caused Sally Ann Matthews’ anxiety levels to skyrocket. James Rampton reports.
Sally Ann Matthews, who plays Jenny Connor in Coronation Street, admits she was filled with trepidation when she learned she was to become the new landlady of the Rovers Return. “I was terrified,” she reveals, admitting that her fear largely stemmed from a lack of skill at pouring a good pint. “I am completely inept,” Matthews concedes. “Trying to pull a pint the other day, I got more beer on my hand than in the glass. I am getting better, but the timing of pulling a pint is really hard.” It is not helped that Matthews is relatively short at 1.58m and seems dwarfed by the imposing Rovers bar and its many accessories. “The pub has great big pumps. I am only five foot two, even though I wear heels in the show. So I have to try not to get masked by the pumps at the same time as pouring the pint and saying my lines.” The task makes juggling a dozen balls look easy. So could Matthews ever see herself as an actual landlady? “No,” she states emphatically. “I would be rubbish if I had to work in a real pub.” Some of the best-loved characters in Coronation Street history have run The Rovers Return – from Jack and
Annie Walker, Bet and Alec Gilroy to Jack and Vera Duckworth and Steve and Liz McDonald.
So Jenny and Johnny Connor (Richard Hawley) have big shoes to fill as they take over the pub in Weatherfield.
Johnny was eager to buy The Rovers for emotional reasons.
It was the last place he saw his beloved late son Aidan before he took his own life. So Johnny teams up with his daughter Carla Connor who wants to be a silent financial partner.
However, initially, Jenny was not so keen on the idea of being the Rovers’ latest landlady.
Matthews, who has played the character on and off since 1985, reveals that to begin with, “Jenny is not up for this. Firstly, she was supposed to be queen of the factory; secondly, she was supposed to be swanning it up in Spain with the villa, the swimming pool and the beach-pine table.”
But now, Matthews adds, “Suddenly she is going to be working in a poxy backstreet boozer – not what she had in mind for herself.
“But she recognises that Johnny needs this to take his mind off Aidan, and her heart belongs to Johnny Connor, so she will do whatever makes him happy.”
Matthews, 47, says it is not surprising that Jenny soon warms to the idea of owning the pub.
“She is pretty adaptable. So she sulks for two minutes, then runs to the moon with the idea.
“As soon as Johnny persuades her about The Rovers, she goes for it big style and starts to make all kinds of plans for it. She wants it to be a cut above everything else.”
Jenny’s biggest concern is how Gemma will to react to the news.
Gemma had big plans to run the pub with Henry. “The one spanner in the works is Gemma,” Matthews reflects. “Jenny and Gemma are kind of sisters because they have both been brought under Rita’s wing. “She knows how much The Rovers means to Gemma and the thought of telling her is heartbreaking. Jenny can see the pain in Gemma’s face and she feels really bad. But Johnny needs this more.”
Matthews goes on to consider what sort of landlady Jenny is likely to make.
“I think she will be incredibly capable because when she sets her mind to it she can achieve anything. For instance, she became an expert seamstress overnight.
“She wants this to work. A lot of people wanted her to fail when she first came back to the Street, so she is not about to look foolish in front of anybody. She will boss it and take no nonsense.”
All the same, the actress says the other inhabitants of Coronation Street may not be so happy about Jenny taking over the Rovers.
“Most residents on the Street have a healthy disregard for Jenny. They all know she can go crazy. The secret is, ‘Don’t cross her’.”
Looking back over her time on the cobbles, Matthews does not find it hard to pick out her all-time favourite Coronation Street landlady.
“It’s got to be Bet Lynch (later Gilroy),” she asserts. “I joined the show in 1985 and Bet was the landlady. Then in the early 90s, Jenny worked in the pub and Bet was her boss. So for most of my viewing and acting time on Corrie, it’s been Bet Lynch.”