‘I'm Nowhere Near As Crackers As Toyah!'

She’s played Toyah Battersby on Coronation Street for 20 years, but Georgia Taylor tells us why her life with boyfriend Mark Letheren is not as dramatic.

- Hayley Minn

Georgia Taylor is known for having played feisty Toyah Battersby on Coronation Street since she was 16, but off-screen the 36-year-old is nothing like her soap counterpart. The actress has been with her fellow actor boyfriend Mark Letheren for 10 years, having met on the set of Casualty, and it seems they live a quiet life in Bristol. With Georgia filming in Manchester five days a week, the couple do their best to make the most of the time they have together.

As she speaks to us, Georgia gushes, ‘We’re just really happy at the moment. We’ve always worked away from each other, and we’ve always had Bristol as a base. We try to see each other as much as we can – I go home or he comes up – but as two actors together, it’s part and parcel of our relationship.’

Georgia claims that Mark being an actor is what drew her to him, confessing that having the same career makes their relationship much easier. ‘The mind of a creative person who can be passionate and chaotic, and all the things you bring into your work as an actor… trying to explain that to someone who isn’t in the industry is difficult,’ she says. ‘My mum and dad don’t necessarily get it, and I wouldn’t expect them to.’