Catherine Tyldesley has revealed that her return to Coronation Street saved her family. The 42-year-old actress reprised her role as Eva Price last October after a seven-year absence, with her character becoming the new landlady of the Rovers Return. Prior to stepping back onto the cobbles, Catherine was touring the UK in theatre productions and regularly flying to Malta for her role in Channel 5 drama The Good Ship Murder, leaving her as an absent mother to her two children, Alfie, 11, and Iris, four.
Her lowest point came when she had to travel to Malta when Iris was just three months old, breaking down in a foreign supermarket when a crying baby triggered her to start lactating breast milk. The call from Corrie producer Kate Brooks to return as Eva arrived at a crucial time for Catherine and her husband Tom Pitfield.
Appearing on Elle Sera's podcast, she said: 'I'd stopped breastfeeding to go and do a job. I had to leave Iris with Tom. I was literally still lactating. It was three months, she was tiny. It was tough. I remember upon landing, going to the supermarket to get some bits for my hotel room, and a baby started crying and my boobs started producing milk. I stood in the corner of the supermarket and I cried.'
She added: 'Since I had Iris, I hadn't had any birthdays with her. There are sacrifices either end of the scale, whether you put family first or whether you put work first. We always celebrated Iris' birthday slightly early, so I could be with her. But on the actual day, I haven't been there for the past three years. So this year, I was there when she turned four, and that was everything to me.'
When Coronation Street called, Catherine had been away for nine months, working multiple jobs without breaks. After stepping off stage in Manchester performing in Bonnie and Clyde, she was whisked straight to the airport. She recalled: 'I sat in the back of the car, my last scene in Bonnie and Clyde was this really heavy crying scene, and I was covered in mascara. And this poor taxi driver was like, 'Are you okay?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm just going to work.' I was just all over the place. But I adore my job.'
Catherine vividly remembers getting the call from Corrie after an honest conversation with Tom, where he admitted struggling as a solo parent to two young children. She said: 'When Corrie called, I'd had a chat with Tom, I think it was two days before or the day before, where he was like, 'Oh babe, gosh, this is, this is hard. This has been a long slog. I really hope your next job is in Manchester.' And lo and behold, a day later or whatever, Kate, our brilliant producer, called and said, 'I'd like you to come back and I'd like you to be the landlady.' I was like, Oh my days. This feels like such a gift right now.'
She continued: 'We were missing being a family massively. I was missing Tom, Tom was missing a wife. I have very poorly relatives at the moment that, you know, we need to help look after and I want that time with them. So it just kind of ticks every box and I'm truly, truly grateful for that. And it is the most gorgeous place. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I grew up watching these landladies come and go thinking, 'Oh my God, that is a dream job. How amazing would it be to be landlady of the Rovers?' And I do pinch myself. I stand in the Rovers sometimes going, 'This isn't real. This is amazing.''
Catherine says starring on Corrie is as close to having a normal job as an actress can get, and she cherishes being home at weekends for her children and supporting them at school. She said: 'For an actor, a continuing drama or a soap is the nearest thing you've got to a normal job. Don't get me wrong, it's manic at times, but I know 90 per cent of the time, I've got weekends with the kids. And, you know, Alfie's about to go to high school, Iris is about to start school ... Schools are a big deal.'
Catherine has no plans to leave Weatherfield anytime soon, though she has been granted a short break to film The Good Ship Murder. She will continue playing Eva as long as she feels challenged by the storylines. She said: 'As long as I feel challenged I'm happy. I said to Corrie when I was heading back, I was like, 'Am I going to be busy? Am I going to be challenged?' Because that's super important to me. And again, Kate Brooks was like, 'Absolutely, if we're bringing you back, we are using you. We are going to throw all sorts at you,' which is great.'
Since her return, Catherine has been involved in Corrie's sex abuse grooming storyline, which saw her 16-year-old stepson Will Driscoll manipulated into a sexual relationship by his school sports coach Megan Walsh.
