"I'm Still 21 In My Head!"
My Weekly|September 20, 2022
Actress Sally Ann Matthews on dancing in her 50s and why she has so much fun playing Coronation Street landlady Jenny Connor...
"I'm Still 21 In My Head!"

On screen we've seen her blissfully happy in a relationship with a man 19 years her junior and away from the cobbles, Sally Ann Matthews is clearly just as young at heart.

For while her favourite way of spending a Saturday night is still putting her feet up and watching TV at home, she can't resist a quick twirl around the dance floor when she gets the chance.

"In my head I'm Beyoncé, but in reality, I'm really not!" she laughs.

"Recently I was up on the dance floor at a party and the next day someone sent me a video of it.

"I thought I was dancing really sexily - I'm still 21 in my head - but actually I was doing 'mum' dancing! "But it doesn't matter.

We shouldn't be defined or constrained by what other people think of us. And now I'm in my 50s I worry a lot less.

"In my 20s I'd be like, 'I don't give a damn what you think!' when I did actually care, whereas now I genuinely really don't."

Sally Ann (51) has played Rovers Return landlady Jenny Connor since 2015, after originally portraying her as a teenager from 1986 to 1991. In between she was a successful jobbing actress.

Coping with rejection at auditions is one of the harder parts of the job, but Sally Ann quickly realised there was no point taking it personally.

This story is from the September 20, 2022 edition of My Weekly.

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This story is from the September 20, 2022 edition of My Weekly.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.