"My Knees Knocked When I Walked Into The Rovers Return!"

Actress Claire Sweeney on battling nerves, being a single mum and landing her dream job on Coronation Street

-  SUE DANDO

There aren't many actresses as experienced as Claire Sweeney. She landed her first singing gig at 14, joined popular soap Brookside aged 20 and has worked regularly ever since, with a career that's taken her from hosting live television, to topping the bill in the West End.

It's hard to imagine anything would knock her off her stride. But as a lifelong Coronation Street fan, Claire admits that filming her first scene in the iconic Rovers Return pub literally left her shaking with fear.

"There were loads of other characters in there and it was a bit of a moment," she recalls. "I was thrilled, but I was so terrified I might forget my lines that I shook with nerves.

"They were quite important scenes. I was sitting at a table and I noticed that under the table my knee was shaking. I had to slap my leg to get it to stop!

"For years Coronation Street was the ultimate dream role for me. Then suddenly it became a reality and I'm still pinching myself."

Claire had a general meeting with lan McLeod, the series producer. Then, when they were trying to cast the role of Cassie, the long-lost daughter of Evelyn Plummer (Maureen Lipman), assistant producer Verity McLeod suggested she audition.

"I did a self-tape from the safety of my bedroom with my friend recording it," Claire recalls. "Then they asked me to go to Manchester to do a chemistry test with Alan Halsall, who plays my screen son Tyrone.

"As I walked towards the offices I saw the cobbles and it literally felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. I went: 'Oh my God!' It just hit me. I was really nervous.