Helen Lederer now joined the cast of ITV ‘s Coronation Street and is already shaking things up.
Taking on the role of Elspeth, Lederer, 69, joined the soap last week as a potential love interest for Corrie stalwart Ken Barlow. The pair first met when Ken accompanied Steve to a cocktail speed dating night together with former son-in-law Steve McDonald.
As Steve and Ken soaked up the atmosphere at the event at Chariot Square, the pair are bought a pair of drinks by a mysterious woman from across the bar. The pair discover Elspeth had paid for the drinks and the love affair for Ken and Elspeth begins from here.
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Things go from strength to strength for the couple, whilst Steve is left to his own devices and decides to go home, leaving lonely Ken alone with the new woman. But is she all she is cracked up to be?
Fans of the show have reacted positively to Elspeth’s new role in the soap, with many viewers praising Absolutely Fabulous legend Helen for her supposed soap debut. However, what many fans may not know is that Lederer already has previous experience in the world of soaps, thanks to a stint on a rival show in 2013.
Then aged 60, Helen appeared on Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks, playing the role of midwife Miriam Andrews. But her time on the show was short, due to Miriam’s troubled past, eventually being killed off by the so-called Gloved Hand Killer, later revealed to be Lindsey Butterfield, played by Sophie Austin.
(Image: Lime Pictures/KS)
During her small time on the show, Helen was involved in a number of different storylines, including the so-called ‘baby swap’, when she accidentally switched Dee Dee Hutchinson and Rose Lomax, after being born in 2013. Miriam did not return to the show until 2015, when Diane O’ Connor and Tony Hutchinson track Miriam down for answers on why she swapped the babies.
In total, Lederer appeared in just eight episodes of the Channel 4 soap before being killed off in May 2015. However, despite not returning to the show, Helen admitted she really enjoyed her time on the set.
“It’s a great programme to be on,” she confessed in an interview at the time with Digital Spy. “When I’m touring now and I stop off at a service station, loads of younger people go, ‘Oh my god, you’re the lady who did the baby swap’; I can’t believe so many people watch it.”
(Image: Tim Merry/Mirror Express)
ITV bosses were thrilled to have landed Helen for her new role on the show, revealing that she had joined the programme on a special post on their Twitter account. Adding that Helen would only be guest starring in the show, producers gushed: “Silver Fox Ken Barlow will prove he still has what it takes to woo the ladies when he catches the eye of Elspeth, played by Helen!”
Coronation Street airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
