CORRIE RITA: I FEAR THE AXE
Pal says star still worries after 56 years
SOAP stalwart Barbara Knox still worries her Corrie character Rita Tanner will get the chop, her co-star revealed.
DESPITE appearing in Coronation Street for 56 years, soap star Barbara Knox still fears she will get the axe.
The veteran actress is the second longest-serving cast member. But she reckons bosses will not renew her contract once it ends later in the year. Barbara, 86, who plays Rita Sullivan, gets sleepless nights if she forgets a line – thinking it could lead to her being sacked. Her worries were revealed by co-star Sally Ann Matthews, 49, who plays Jenny Bradley. Speaking ahead of the show’s forthcoming 10,000th episode, she said: “Every year she thinks she isn’t going to get another contract. “And if she ever forgets a line, which is rare, she won’t sleep that night. She is terrible.
“I’m like: ‘Seriously, Barbara?’ I tell her off all the time.’’ The Oldhamborn star first appeared as Rita Littlewood for one episode in 1964.
She returned as a full-time member of the cast in 1972 and has remained on the show ever since. Barbara, who is one of the soap’s biggest earners, won the 1989 TV Times Award for best actress and in 2004 was presented with a lifetime achievement gong at the British Soap Awards. She was made an MBE in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Only William Roache, 87, who plays Ken Barlow, has been in Coronation Street longer.
An insider said: “Barbara is not just one of the most popular actresses on TV but one of the most grounded.
“Most of us reckon she’ll still be going at 100.’’