Corrie star Sally Whittaker loves being a scheming cow on TV
The People
20th of December 2008[/align]
CORRIE star Sally Whittaker is used to being branded a snotty, stirring bitch - and relishes every minute of it. Not that the 45-year-old actress is anything like that in real life. But after 22 years as conniving knicker stitcher Sally Webster she is delighted to play a character with some of the soap's most memorable scenes.
She told The People: "Sally can be such a scheming cow but I love her when she's like that. When I get my scripts to learn I pray that there are going to be storylines where Sally is getting all of the others' backs up."
The uppity Underworld machinist is at the heart of Weatherfield's Christmas week episodes after drunkenly telling widow Maria Connor - played by Samia Smith, 26 - that her husband cheated on her with factory boss Carla Gordon. It's the latest twist in a saga that has kept viewers captivated as Sally married garage mechanic Kevin Webster, divorced, remarried - and landed in a tangled series of relationships along the way.
In a rare interview, the real-life Sally said: "When I read the script where I broke the news to Maria I knew instantly it was going to be one of those memorable Coronation Street nights. As an actress it is the sort of storyline you want to be involved with. You know you are taking part in a plotline that will leave millions of people debating the rights and wrongs. After more than 20 years I still get the same pang of excitement over a good script as I did when I first joined the show. Sally meddles in everyone else's business and thinks she is so much better than the rest of them but really she is just the same."
"There aren't many dull moments. Sally is a fabulous character and I know I am so lucky to play her. All those years ago when I started she wasn't like this so I am so pleased that the producers have made her change. It has only been over the last five years that she has turned into a right cow. That is brilliant because it means I can show what I can do as an actress. I know some viewers hate her, others love her, but I am pleased she is talked about. I hope she carries on being like this for a very long time to come." Sally particularly enjoys working with Vicky Entwistle, who plays Janice Battersby. "She and Sally are always at one another's throats," she said.
The actress was 22 when she joined Corrie in January 1986 as young tearaway Sally Seddon. She had a brief spell as a barmaid at the Rovers before falling for Kevin Webster, played by Michael Le Vell. Romance blossomed under the disapproving eye of Hilda Ogden and the couple married and had two daughters.
Kevin was thrown out by Sally when he cheated on her with his boss Natalie Horrocks. Sally then launched into a string of affairs. She also had to fend off Joe Broughton when she was child-minder to his son and dallied with Gail Platt's hubby Martin. She finally remarried Kevin in 2002 but there has been no shortage of drama since. Sally fancied tutor John Stape (Graeme Hawley) only to find he was bedding her daughter Rosie. Then deranged Stape kidnapped Rosie and locked her in his gran's attic.
In the ITV1 soap Rosie, played by Helen Flanagan, 19, and sister Sophie (Brooke Vincent, 16) are a real handful for their mum. Away from the Corrie set, Sally and her scriptwriter husband Tim Dynevor find life is rather more settled as parents to Phoebe, 13, Sam, 11 and five-year-old Hattie.
"Thank God they are nothing like Rosie or Sophie," said Sally. "I don't know what I would do if they were. They all have their moments but they are angels in comparison to those two of mine on Corrie. It is one thing after another with them. They are so naughty, aren't they? If I had two daughters like that at home I honestly don't know how I would cope. Maybe that is why Sally is so mad sometimes. The poor woman, you do have to feel sorry for her."
Sally, chatted happily to The People as she mingled with disabled youngsters at a party held for them by Chancellor Alistair Darling at 11 Downing Street. She laughed: "My kids say that I'm not really like my character at all. What is even nicer is that they tell me that all their friends know how nice I am. I bet Rosie and Sophie's friends don't think that about their mum."
Tim writes for rival soap Emmerdale but that does not lead to clashes at their Altrincham home in Cheshir, which is handy for the Granada studios. Sally revealed: "We have this rule that we don't discuss what is going on in each other's shows. Tim works from home and has his own place to do his writing. I go off and learn my lines in another room. But there is rivalry, particularly when Corrie and Emmerdale are running similar storylines. He'll say, 'We wrote that first', and I'll say, 'Actually, I think you'll find Corrie did' but it's all fine really."
Sally is busy juggling work and domestic demands as her character takes centre stage this week. On Christmas Eve viewers will see flirty Rosie disappoint her mum again as she cops off at her 18th birthday party with new Street tearaway Gary Windass - played by Mikey North. There is another bombshell soon when Sophie admits she is pregnant - at 14. That's bad news for Sally Webster but great news for Sally Whittaker, who looks forward to the challenge of another gripping storyline.
She said: "I've had 22 years of brilliant stories. I won't be leaving anytime soon and want to carry on playing Sally forever. I am so lucky, I cannot imagine a better character to play. There are so many more people's lives for her to meddle in yet."
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