Coronation Street’s Maureen Lipman has taken a secret break from the soap until she gets Covid vaccine
MAUREEN Lipman has taken a secret break from Coronation Street until she gets her Covid-19 jab.
The star, who plays battleaxe Evelyn Plummer, says she is on a “sabbatical” from the ITV soap.
Maureen, 74, said: “Well it has been a time that I can't personally complain about except on behalf of the people who have not been as fortunate.
“I continued in Coronation Street after the first initial lockdown. I went back. I am still officially working on it except that I am taking a bit of sabbatical until I get my vaccination at the moment.”
But she was allowed to film Celebrity Gogglebox with pal Gyles Brandreth, 72.
She told the Outspoken Beauty podcast: “Then they kindly allowed me to be engulfed by Gyles Brandreth on the Gogglebox series.
“I had no idea what it was until I got into it. I thought I would be some sort of pundit. I have always admired that genre but it was basically looking at willies.
“I cannot complain about lockdown. I have been writing stuff. I have been doing drama classes on Zoom with my grandchildren which is hysterical.
“I went for a walk in Hyde Park with Rula Lenska. She managed to bring a flask of coffee which managed to be cold. We never stop talking and that is very nice.
“My lockdown has not been too much of a problem. If I lived in a flat with kids and no outside I think I would go mad. I have done a lot of Zooms but I still feel I am not doing anything, I am not doing anything to help.”
It comes after she feared she had spread the virus on the show.
Last May she admitted: “I believe myself to have had a mild form of coronavirus masquerading as a fortnight’s persistent cough, with attached fatigue and sweats.
“If I did have it, then I flung my viral breath cheerfully around the Coronation Street corner shop at anyone who popped in for a bag of crisps and a confrontation.”
Later she told of her reaction when hearing reports she was the ‘Covid spreader’, saying: “Immediately I rang my agent and said, ‘How can they say it’s me. I’m bl***dy well not’.”
And last summer she told how she couldn’t be with her Italian businessman partner Guido Castro because of his long-term health issues.
Maureen, who became a Dame in the latest Queen’s Birthday Honours, said: “Guido and I have been apart recently – we couldn’t self-isolate together because of his health – but I feel lucky that we have that.”
Last week The Sun revealed filming Corrie had been suspended due to the pandemic.
Earlier today Maureen revealed she felt “a little bit unsafe” on the set of Corrie.
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She told Steph’s Packed Lunch on Channel 4: “We do our own make up, we do our own hair and we dress ourselves. I’m used to that in the theatre so it’s not really a problem.
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“I did feel a little bit unsafe towards the end, to be honest, because we weren’t being tested. But it’s all changed now so looking forward to going back.
“It’s such a nice job. They’re really sweet, the people there. They think I’m some kind of crazy old woman.”