Roberta Kerr has spoken about her return to Coronation Street as Wendy Papadopoulos – formerly Crozier – who is best known for having an affair with cobbles veteran Ken Barlow (played by Bill Roache).
The star is set to make a comeback after ten years away, as Wendy becomes embroiled in Abi Webster’s (Sally Carman) fight to be reunited with her baby son Alfie. But it seems there’s still plenty of room for drama with Ken’s adoptive daughter, Tracy (Kate Ford).
Tracy is unlikely to be in a forgiving mood, as Wendy’s actions contributed to the breakdown of Ken’s marriage to her late mum Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride) in 1989. And Kerr says we can expect the pair to lock horns over the coming months.
“Tracy is not going to let Wendy get back in Ken’s life, is she?” she muses.
“Kate and I have done one of those scenes with verbal sparring and that was great. It will be interesting because there’s the slight complication of Tracy and Abi being friends, so that’s another aspect. We’ll have to see how that plays out.”
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While we wait to find out how Tracy will react to Wendy’s reappearance, Kerr discusses the fact that Classic Corrie episodes are currently airing her alter ego’s early stint.
“Yes, it’s quite low key at the moment,” says the actress. “It’s an interesting storyline, very different from how it was previously.”
She adds that the reaction to the plot has been unexpected for her. “I have just done a play, last week, and there were some people who came up to me afterwards and they obviously do watch the classic episodes, so they were particularly excited. I hadn’t thought of that and hadn’t realised that was happening. It did quite take me by surprise.”
Asked how she prepared for stepping back into the role of Wendy, Kerr explains: “I watched my show reel! It’s going to be interesting for people who are watching the classic Corrie, who are seeing me as I was 30 years ago, when they see me now.”
Explaining how her alter ego feels about being reunited with the Barlows after all these years, Kerr reveals that Wendy’s nerves kick in as soon as she learns of Abi’s connection to Weatherfield.
“Once Wendy realises where Abi lives, that’s a real issue for her. She’s even wondering if that’ll be ok. It’s a tricky one because it was so awkward the way her relationship with Ken ended before.”
Of course, this is in reference to the fact that back in 2012, Wendy returned as a school governor and reconnected with Ken.
She wanted to reignite their relationship, and lied to Deirdre that she and Ken had slept together. Ken later told Wendy he wanted nothing more to do with her, which was the last time viewers saw Wendy – until now!
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