CORRIE ANGIE ON HER Can you imagine if my whip slipped out in the Rovers?

When in 2014 Victoria landed her role in The Royals, her first TV job, it proved to be a baptism of fire. The writers did not tell her about Rachel’s secret until she had finished filming episode four.

She asked where the idea had come from. She said: “I can be a bit cheeky but I’m not a dominatrix in real life.

“The first thing that came to my mind was, ‘How’s my mum going to react?’.

“When I told her she went, ‘Vic!’. But she’s very open-minded and was excited for me.”

Victoria, born in Bury, Lancashire, describes herself as a bit of a tomboy growing up so hairdresser mum Candy was surprised to see her as a femme fatale.

Victoria said: “In one episode I was stood there straddling the prime minister.”

Coronation Street was far more of a natural fit for Victoria. She grew up watching the soap and would even pretended to be one of its most loved characters.

She said: “As a kid I’d make up musicals based on it and Mum would have to come into the living room and watch.

“I’d do a mini musical and I’d always gravitate to Bet Lynch. I’d always pretend to have a cigarette in my mouth – I just loved her. She’s a Corrie icon.”

Victoria sang in the school choir and her mum entered her into a local singing competition, without telling her, which she won.

At 18, Victoria packed her bags for London, where she worked in a bar to gain confidence and help her meet people. Her big break came six years later when she attended an open audition for the hit West End musical The Lion King and landed the part of Queen Sarabi. She played the role from 2007 to 2009.

She then toured the US in a stage version of The Blues Brothers before returning to The Lion King for a second stint in 2012. Victoria was invited to try out for Corrie and landed the role of Angie, married to Mary’s long-lost son Jude, who had been living abroad.

They pitched up in Weatherfield in August to attend Mary’s wedding to newsagent Norris Cole. But there is already mounting tension between Angie and busybody Mary, played by