JENNY’S A CHEAT!

Can Jenny keep her encounter with Ronnie a secret from her husband? We ask Corrie’s Sally Ann Matthews

Jenny and Ronnie leap into bed in Coronation Street this week — shortly before her husband Johnny is released early from prison! Rovers landlady Jenny is wracked with guilt and left wondering if she’s reached the end of the road with Johnny. ‘After doing the deed, Jenny feels dreadful,’ says Sally Ann Matthews, who plays her. ‘Later on, she realises what she felt is real — there is a connection between her and Ronnie that she cannot deny.

‘She’s about to crumble when... surprise! Jailbird Johnny comes home with a bunch of flowers. She desperately loves Johnny, but she’s put up with a lot. Since he was sentenced to eight months inside for a historic armed robbery in January, Jenny’s been running the Rovers and B&B alone. ‘She loves Johnny and sees this as yet another hurdle in their blissfully happy married life,’ says Sally Ann.

However, feeling lonely, Jenny’s formed a relationship with businessman Ronnie, who’s been staying at the guesthouse. And viewers will see their friendship tip into something more serious. Sally Ann, who’s 50 and has portrayed Jenny since 1985, says, ‘I was shocked when I found out, but I can see how it happened.

‘With Ronnie, she’s remembering what life was like before all this angst. She remembers what it’s like to feel excited about someone and be carefree. She can breathe for the first time in a long while.’

What Jenny doesn’t know, because Ronnie fails to tell her, is that he’s also married — and she only finds out when his wife, Kat, walks in. ‘Jenny can’t work out what’s worse — cheating on Johnny or Ronnie being a married man who’s used her as a notch on the bedpost. She’s furious and upset,’ says Sally Ann.

Then Johnny returns. And after Jenny blabs about Ronnie to barmaid Daisy, surely her affair won’t stay secret for long. ‘It’ll be interesting to see how it pans out,’ says Sally Ann.

Sally Ann says she’s loving being the Rovers landlady, even though she’s filling big shoes from the likes of Annie Walker and Bet Lynch. ‘I try not to think about all the strong women before me as it’s daunting. I’m putting on a wellworn robe of grandeur and have to carry it well.’

So Sally Ann’s happy to stay for as long as the writers will have her. ‘I love the soap genre – it’s special.’