Coronation Street’s Maureen Lipman has revealed details about an exciting new venture away from the famous cobbles during a chat with Alan Titchmarsh on his ITV programme, Love Your Weekend. The actress also gave viewers a glimpse into her wedding and her unique proposal story.

At the start of their conversation, Alan queried Maureen about her tenure in the soap, to which she confessed that her character is currently taking a backseat.

Alan asked, “You’ve been in it now since 2018, so seven years?”

“Is it seven?” responded Maureen, before continuing, “But once you get in there, time just stands still. You know, it’s very good for an elderly brain, because, as you know, you have to learn every night and then throw it away, learn again.

“You know, six scenes, five scenes, whatever it is, and when you stop doing it, because I’m kind of out now, really, my character has gone to university to study law, with a special emphasis on canine law. Don’t ask me what it means,” reports OK!.

She added, “So I am out of it now, but it’s so wonderful to go back.”

The conversation soon shifted to Maureen’s recent nuptials, with Alan extending his congratulations to the soap star. Maureen tied the knot with businessman David Turner last summer.

Reflecting on the event, the Evelyn Plummer actress shared, “Well, we sort of talked about it in a jocular fashion, you know, but our ages added up to 158, so David had lost his wife, I had lost my partner during COVID, and then this bloke comes along and asks me for a date.

Article continues below

“So we went for a walk in Hertfordshire, and, you know, said he fell in love with me when I came out of the toilet.

“Yeah, so we were on a train coming back from Edinburgh, and he said that it was a particular day in the Jewish calendar that was sort of like Valentine’s Day.

“It’s apparently a day when women can ask men to marry them. So you wouldn’t pass that one up if you were a comedian, would you? So I slid under the table on the train, and I said, ‘Will you marry me?’ And he said, ‘Are you serious?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, go on then’.”

Article continues below

Alan then questioned Maureen about her latest venture in a comedy production titled Allegra. She explained, “This play is about…it’s good for our times, because it’s about a woman who is a Dotty but relentlessly happy, and she goes into places and she sings and she entertains, and nobody wants her, and so they’re really trying to make her miserable like everybody else. But of course, when she is it’s they don’t like her that way.

“So I’m going to tour, which now that I’ve got nicely settled, I’m loath to do, but you have to. “.

When questioned whether it presented a “daunting and tiring prospect”, Maureen frankly confessed, “Well, it’s tiring at this time of life. But, I mean, look at Anne Reid. You know she was out there at night. She’s the most ambitious actress I have met in a good way.

“Every day is some sort of a surprise; it’s a difficult world to live in at the moment if you’re of my persuasion, and sticking your head above the parapet is no fun, it is scary.”