Amanda Barrie: I was terrifed of coming out but Corrie is the gayest street in the world

And she notes the irony of Corrie’s growing number of gay characters – men and women – since her days on the set of the ITV soap.

The former Carry On star laughed as she said: “When you look now, the whole street’s running amok. It’s the gayest street in the world. I think, well, not another one, for God’s sake, pull yourself together, kids, you can’t all live on Canal Street,” referring to Manchester’s gay village.”

Amanda is quick to have a laugh at her own expense – particularly about her age.

She admits she is “a terrible anxiety fiend” and has been thinking about death since she was five or six.

Then she jokes about her veteran status: “They’re all younger than me now, any older and they’re dead.

“I often visit the British Museum because it’s the only place I can find anybody older than me.

“Hilary was very relieved to see me alive after Celebrity Big Brother because I said to the producers I would have been the first ever exit in a coffin.”

The actress admits struggling to catch all the announcements that were made in the BB house and says she recently started wearing hearing aids after discovering she had a high-frequency impairment.

She adds: “The main thing is being able to enjoy life and join in the conversation.

“I don’t want to miss a t hing, particularly if anybody’s saying anything behind my back.”

WORLD Hearing Day is on March 3 and Amanda is supporting the Specsavers Audiologists Listen Up! campaign to encourage regular hearing checks. For more information or to book a free test visit specsavers.co.uk/hearing.