Corrie fans can breathe a sigh of relief – Rita Tanner is not going anywhere!
We were worried earlier in the year, as Rita seemed to be suffering from dementia and then was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
The idea of saying goodbye to the beloved redheaded, who has worked in The Kabin and walked the Corrie cobbles for over 45 years, was almost unbearable.
But actress Barbara Knox has confirmed that she is going nowhere, and Rita is here to stay. Hurrah!
The 84-year-old was talking to Lorraine Kelly on her show this morning.
And she reassured Lorraine – herself a huge Corrie fan – that she had no intentions of retiring any time soon.
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Lorraine asked: “Please tell me you’re not going anywhere, that you will be in the Street forever?”
“Well, that’s very kind of you to ask,” replied Barbara.
“I would like to keep working, I really would. It is marvellous – it’s stimulating.
“You get fed up, you get tired, and yet at the end of the day you go ‘Oh, thank God. That’s wonderful, to work’. So I would like to.
“If you can keep that brain occupied, you’re out there, you’re not sat at home. This is why the story we did was so poignant with so many elderly people.”
The pair also discussed the storyline about Rita’s brain tumour and memory loss and the impact it had had on viewers.
“Isn’t that amazing really that that story had such an effect?” said Barbara.
“I think it was so real. Not just acting it, it’s real isn’t it out there, there are so many old people and they’ve been wonderful and they start forgetting things.
“I thought I hope I get that right, because it’s so real.”
And Barbara revealed that she wasn’t the only one who was affected by the emotional scenes – the rest of the cast and crew were as well.
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“While we were doing this story, I can remember three scenes I had to do with Malcolm [Hebden who plays Norris],” she recalled.
“We just sat down and everyone was just silent, because they were so sad.”
Coronation Street continues on ITV tonight at 7.30pm, while Lorraine will be back on Monday at 8.30am.