CORRIE AT 60 - ‘I LIKE IT WHEN STEVE AND TRACY ARGUE!'

KATE FORD LOOKS BACK ON NEARLY 20 YEARS OF PLAYING FEISTY TRACY BARLOW INCLUDING HER FOND MEMORIES OF STARRING ALONGSIDE THE LATE CORRIE LEGEND ANNE KIRKBRIDE

- TRICIA MARTIN

Any long-standing Corrie fan will smile at references to the young Tracy Barlow, stomping upstairs in a strop at No1 to play tapes in her bedroom. But then, given her mum Deirdre’s chaotic love life, perhaps it’s no surprise she was a troubled teen.

Kate Ford, 43, became the fourth actress to play Tracy when she joined in 2002, and she’s had a ball as the Weatherfield bad girl you just know is going to grow old disgracefully...

Kate, it’s quite the milestone as Corrie turns 60. How did you feel when you joined the show in 2002?

Actually, when I was at school I had been a Corrie extra. It wasn’t because I wanted to be an actress, it was because you got £50 a day! At the time I was mad about horse riding, and this was just a way of making pocket money. I was in a couple of scenes. In one, Steve McDonald was going to a pop concert and I handed him a flyer outside. Later, I joined a youth theatre in Lancaster and got more interested in taking it further.

So it was a few years before you came back as Tracy…

Yes, I hadn’t auditioned for other Corrie roles, then this role came up after I’d been to drama school. People said, “Oh you don’t want to do a soap, you’ll be in it for ages.” And I said, “I’m going to do six months, max.” And here I am, nearly 20 years later!

But you already had a family link to the Street, didn’t you?