Mary Taylor has been a fan-favourite among Coronation Street viewers for more than 12 years.
The Preston’s Petals shop assistant has been busy rehearsing for the play in Weatherfield in recent scenes.
However, things take a turn for the worst in upcoming scenes when Nigel announces that the theatre is flooded and the play has been cancelled.
READ MORE: Corrie boss ‘cried twice’ watching Christmas episodes as he teases ‘moving’ wedding plot
Ken Barlow manages to secures the Bistro, asserting the show must go on.
Next week, Brian Packham (Peter Gunn) tries to show Mary a review of the play in the Gazette but she refuses to read it, convinced the whole performance was a disaster.
As Brian and Mary grow closer, Daily Star has taken a look inside actress Patti’s life away from the ITV soap.
TV career
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
Patti’s early acting credits including being part of a reconstruction cast in Strange But True? back in 1997 and playing a nurse in Young Dracula back in 2007.
She also appeared in Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood as Ruth in 2008 played Mrs Palmer in Casualty 1909 a year later as well as a stint on rival BBC soap Doctors.
Her stage acting credits include Edith in a production of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit at the Citizen’s Theatre in Glasgow in 2000 and the role of Mrs Micawber in a 2005 production of the stage play David Copperfield at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
Having built up extensive experience in theatre, Patty subsequently expressed interest in transferring to television
Corrie fame
(Image: itv)
In 2008, while working as a receptionist, Patti was offered the part of Mary Taylor.
She made her debut on November 26, 2008 and was originally only meant to appear in five episodes.
However, the actress was offered a new contract to continue playing Mary and returned as a full-time character in 2010.
Over the past 12 years, she’s become a fan favourite and has been at the centre of some hard-hitting storylines, including the arrival of her secret son Jude Appleton.
Patti is a three-time winner of the British Soap Award for Best Comedy Performance.
Plea to bosses
(Image: WireImage)
She maybe a Corrie regular now but Patti was faced with plenty of rejection letters from soap bosses at first.
She even wrote her own scene set in the Rover’s Return, involving a new character played by her, and fired it off to producers.
Patti previously told the Mirror: “I used to write and write to the casting director asking for a job and he’d write back saying, ‘Nothing doing at the moment’. I could really see myself in Corrie and was very persistent.
“So I wrote him a scene making up a character for myself called Cherise, who was to be Raquel’s half-sister. She sat in the bar and didn’t say anything and wore glasses and was quite dowdy and then Raquel gives her a make-over. I thought it was brilliant, but he wrote back and said, ‘No, no, no, no, no, it’s not going to happen.'” Eventually though, it did happen.
‘Stunning’ makeover
(Image: ITV)
Patti left ITV viewers gobsmacked during her appearance on The Chase back in 2020.
She stepped up to compete against expert Shaun Wallace aka The Dark Destroyer during her stint on a celebrity version of the quiz show.
Dressing to impress for the Christmas special, Pattie looked radiant in a purple velvet blazer, paired with a matching cocktail dress.
Her hair, which is usually pulled back in a ponytail on Corrie, was worn down, elegantly framing her face in glossy layers.
With a dash of fuchsia lipstick, the soap star looked nothing short of stunning on the ITV quiz show – and The Chase fans were smitten.
Taking to Twitter, viewers exclaimed over Patti’s glamorous appearance, used to seeing her wearing more laid back looks while acting on the cobbles.
One said: “Mary looks so pretty.”
“Mary scrubs up well,” wrote a second, and a third chimed: “Well played Patti & you look lovely Merry Christmas to you & yours.”
Coronation Street airs on ITV1 and ITV X
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
