RETURN OF THE CORRIE QUEENS!
The Street’s legendary ladies will be celebrated in a brand new documentary
Five Coronation Street icons are set to be featured in a brand new documentary to mark the show’s 60th anniversary next year, aptly titled, Queens Of The Street. Why, you ask? Because these ladies are legends and deserve to be celebrated, that’s why. Here, we take a look at the women who found fame in Weatherfield – cementing their places in soap history forever…
Suranne Jones
Before she was snogging women in Gentleman Jack, hunting down a cheating husband in Doctor Foster or catching criminals in Scott & Bailey, Suranne learnt her trade as Corrie fave Karen Mcdonald.
Feisty Karen arrived in Weatherfield and became a seamstress at the knicker factory. Initially, she hooked up with Steve Mcdonald for a bet, but the pair soon fell in love. However, a romantic triangle ensued between Karen, Steve and Tracy Barlow, which resulted in not one, but two epic catfights – first at Karen and Steve’s wedding and then on the roof of Underworld. Classic Corrie dramz.
Sarah Lancashire
Sarah secured her place in the soap’s Hall of Fame as ditsy barmaid Raquel Watts, who was married to loveable local Curly. Sadly for Curly, Raquel eventually fled Weatherfield in 1996 to start a new life in, erm, Kuala Lumpur as an aromatherapist.
Since leaving Corrie
(aside from a cameo in 2000), Sarah has become one of its biggest successes. She scored a two-year golden handcuffs deal with ITV on her departure, making her the UK’S highest earning TV actress at the time.
Sarah has gone on to star in hit dramas such as Clocking Off, Last Tango In Halifax and Happy Valley, and bagged two TV Baftas plus an OBE. What would Curly say?!
amanda Barrie
Amanda played Alma Sedgewick on and off for 20 years, and her character dated long-time rivals Ken Barlow and Mike Baldwin. However, café owner Alma was killed off in 2001 in a tragic cervical cancer storyline. As well as appearances in Doctors, Bad Girls and Benidorm, former Carry On star Amanda has been a regular on the panto circuit and took part in Celebrity Big Brother in 2018.
The actress also famously came out as bisexual in her autobiography It’s Not A Rehearsal and married long-term partner Hilary Bonner in 2014.
Julie goodyear
No one could rock a beehive and tons of bling quite like Rovers Return landlady Bet Lynch, as portrayed by soap stalwart Julie Goodyear. The chain-smoking, no nonsense blonde first appeared in Weatherfield in 1966 before finally becoming a fixture behind the bar between 1970 and 1995.
Apart from a couple of brief stints on Corrie in 2002 and
2003, Julie has mainly popped up on reality shows, making a memorable appearance on Celebrity Big Brother in 2015.
In 2017, it was rumoured she had pulled out of I’m A Celebrity because she couldn’t smoke on the 23-hour flight to Australia.
We bet she was fuming!
Michelle Keegan
Abortions, fake marriages, perjury, affairs, surrogacy and her own murder – poor Tina Mcintyre was put through the wringer during her six years on the cobbles.
While Tina may have had several failed relationships on Corrie, in real life Michelle, who played her from 2007 to 2014, has been much luckier in love, marrying TOWIE star Mark Wright in 2015.
Michelle’s career has also soared since leaving the Street, as she won the lead role in BBC1 army drama Our Girl and will soon be seen in new Sky1 comedy Brassic.