Cath Tyldesley says baby comes bef ore her singing car eer CORRIE EVA: I’M NO DIVA
BUSY Corrie star Cath Tyldesley is hoping to win over the punters with her new career but not at the expense of her family.
Last night Cath, 32, who plays giddy knicker stitcher Eva Price, was due to sing at her first London gig.
But the star, who wed in May and has an 18- month- old son Archie, is not aiming to swap the cobbles for music bars.
And she stresses branching out into music will not turn her into a diva or get in the way of caring for Archie.
In fact, Cath, who released her first single, Rise, this week, has been inspired by her baby.
She said: “I sang the beautiful jazz standard Baby Mine every day to Alfie when I was pregnant. Now I sing it to him every night before he goes to sleep.”
She has included the track on her album which comes out in November. But she said: “I can’t get through it without breaking down. The album is very salsa, very Strictly. Once you’ve had a child, they’re the most important thing in the world. He’s such a chilled out baby who loves music. He comes to band rehearsals and he’s fascinated by the instruments.
“We’re on this journey as a family. If we do a few live dates next year, he’ll be beside me.”
Intense
But life has not always been so easy for the superfit Northern beauty. As a teenager she was a size 22 and was labelled as “the fat funny one, a character actress” at auditions.
She said: “There’s nothing wrong with that but that’s not what I wanted to do, I wanted to be the leading lady. Luckily I lost the weight so young that I’ve got away with not having operations to take away skin. For me, though, it’s no longer about weight loss but it’s about my son and how long I can be on this earth for, I want to see my great grandchildren.
“I want to be fit and healthy and my job is intense, we work long hours. If you’re off ill you hold everyone else up so it’s respect for other people, too.”
The Corrie schedule is relentless and Cath, who keeps going on coffee, has some great plots including her rocky relationship with reluctant boyfriend Aidan Connor, played by 2005 X Factor winner Shayne Ward, 31.
She said: “In this country people get labelled, if you’re an actress you can’t be a singer and vice versa. Shayne had the same thing. I’ve always been a singer and acted, I love them both.”
“In terms of work Corrie takes priority and the singing has to slot in around that but we try to keep as many weekends free as possible.”
Cath revealed Corrie fans can expect to see Eva endure plenty more dramas on the rocky road to finding true love. She said: “I love the ups and downs of Eva’s life.”