LIFE STORY

really well.” Finding a new man is not on Susie’s wish list. “Oh no, my life is full – and I’ve got my allotment,” she laughs.

“My father left when I was four and I was brought up by my single mum, so I didn’t grow up with a father figure and it wasn’t something I yearned for.

“I have good girlfriends. I can always ring my son and ask if he could be spared for an occasion. And I’ve got a lot of gay friends and they will tell me if I’ve put on too much lipstick.”

Boyzone star Keith Duffy, 45, ended up wearing Susie’s lipstick as part of a Corrie age gap relationship storyline – something Susie remembers fondly.

“It was pretty amazing to kiss Keith Duffy,” she says. “Neither of us had ever kissed on-screen and we were both terrified. One of my actress friends said, ‘One rule: no tongues!’

“So when I went into make-up I said, ‘No tongues!’ very loudly in my most school mistressy voice. In the end it was very gentle and sweet and lovely.

“Keith came over to my flat to watch it and sat there shaking, but we thought it was alright.”

As happy as her memories are, Susie has not scheduled a return to the cobbles.

“The last time they asked me to come back, around the time of Deirdre’s funeral, I had already said yes to a play and couldn’t. But Bev’s not dead, so who knows?”

For now, during lockdown, Susie is coping well with not going anywhere.

“Being an actor, there are bouts of being unemployed so we’re quite good at occupying ourselves. I’ve