UNWEDDED BLISS 'I DIDN'T FIND THE ONE UNTIL I WAS 60.LET THAT BE AN INSPIRATION!'

DYNASTY ICON STEPHANIE BEACHAM ON LOVE, RETURNING TO OUR SCREENS IN CORRIE AND WHY YOU WON'T SEE HER JOINING ANY MORE REALITY TV CONTESTS

The name Stephanie Beacham immediately calls to mind images of glamour, beauty and sophistication. So we’re thrilled to report that in real life, the 75-year-old icon, best known for playing Sable Colby in Dynasty in the 1980s, is just as fabulous as we’d hoped – if not more.

The actress is set to return to our screens this week as she reprises her role as Martha Fraser in Coronation Street. It has been 13 years since she originally appeared in the ITV1 soap as the woman who stole Ken Barlow’s heart. And off screen, Stephanie’s love life is also flourishing.

She smiles as she opens up about finding The One at 60, when she admits she had pretty much given up on love. Stephanie fell for doctor and saxophonist Bernie Greenwood, who was then 68, after they were introduced by a mutual friend.

“I’ve met many women in their forties who are successful but alone,” she says. “I didn’t meet

Bernie until I was 60. Let that be an inspiration! Let’s be honest, that’s post-menopause, post-children. That’s post a lot of things – but not all things! We fell in love, no compromise. We were given, through rose coloured spectacles, the vision of each other as if we were 35. God allowed us magic!

“Before we met, we’d been emailing. By the time we’d written enough emails, I knew I loved this man. But I didn’t know I fancied him.”