'I Don't Sweat the Small Stuff'

One of the most in-demand actresses in the country, Katherine Kelly, talks to us about playing rebels, taking risks and relying on her rock solid 'team'.

- Carrie Mitchell

When it comes to must-see TV drama, Katherine Kelly’s face is becoming almost as synonymous with quality as Sarah Lancashire’s is. Like Sarah, Katherine built her reputation on the Corrie cobbles before making the brave choice to leave the show after six years. Fortunately, the work has come thick and fast ever since – Mr Selfridge, The Guilty, an acclaimed turn in West End musical City of Angels, then last Christmas, The Sound of Music Live and most recently, Happy Valley (with Ms Lancashire herself). Amidst all that, she found the time to get married and have a baby. Daughter Orla arrived in March 2014, months after she eloped to Vegas with her partner Ryan Clark and after spending a year on the beach in Australia, the family returned to London. If Katherine was worried about returning to work, she shouldn’t have. Currently back stealing the screen from Mr Selfridge, Katherine is a force to be reckoned with. We caught up with the star to find out how she copes with the whirlwind that is her life and how her first year as a working mum is going.

The main thing that’s changed for me since becoming a mum is how busy I am.

I’m always on the go, so I never thought it would be possible to be busier, but it seems that it is! If you want to work and be a hands-on parent like I do, then you don’t really get a moment to yourself. In this business, there’s no routine, you just have to have loads and loads of back-up plans! I’m always trying to think ahead and I’m always after a schedule, because it can all be done, you just need a bit of notice.  

I’m naturally quite all or nothing.