‘We're just like the ODD COUPLE!'

Rula Lenska reveals the bonds she shares with her Coronation Street co-stars and why she’s on a high

- HAYLEY MINN

Rula Lenska has been a fixture on our screens for over 45 years and has one of the most distinctive, even posh, voices in the industry – which is one of the many reasons the 72year-old is shocked she’s now a Coronation Street regular.

‘If somebody said to me, “What’s the least likely thing you could imagine being asked to do?” I would have said, “Coronation Street,”’ she tells us, ‘because I’m not in the least bit northern!’

Cambridgeshire-born Rula first joined the ITV soap as hairdresser Claudia Colby, Audrey Roberts’ old friend and rival, in 2009.

However, she quit the role in 2011 to join the Calendar Girls tour, before returning to the cobbles in 2018.

Since her return, she has shared the screen with Corrie stalwart William Roache, as Ken Barlow’s love interest, rather than squabbling with Sue Nicholls, who plays Audrey.