6 TV TIMES

Y

ou’ve got to

feel for Eileen

Grimshaw.

Having steered

clear of men

since discovering that now

late husband Pat Phelan was

a serial killer, she has been

persuaded by best mate Liz

McDonald to take a chance

on builder Jan Lozinski –

only to find out this week

that her lodger is involved in

a people-trafficking ring.

It’s the latest in a long line

of disastrous relationships –

but Eileen being Eileen, we

know she’ll soon dust herself

down and carry on.

‘There’s a survivor’s instinct

in all Corrie women,’ says

actress Sue Cleaver, who

joined the soap in 2000.

‘If you walk down any

street in Manchester, there’ll

be single women who haven’t

met the right man and they’re

getting on with life. I think

Eileen is representative of

a lot of women.’

As Eileen approaches her

20th year on the cobbles, we

look back at the turbulent life

of the Weatherfield trouper...

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SOAP

Coronation Street

MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY /

ITV / 7.30PM & 8.30PM

COVER STORY

THE EARLY DAYS

It was in May 2000 that we met

Eileen for the first time – Vikram

Desai gave her a ride in his cab,

and was so impressed with her

knowledge of the area that he

employed her to operate the radio

at his and Steve’s firm, Street Cars.

‘I’d only been in the show about

five weeks, and I got a call to say,

“Can you do a screen test; we’re

interviewing for your sons (Todd

and Jason). You’re getting a

house on the street,”’ recalls Sue.

‘When I came in, I said I would

only stay one year. But to play a

character for 10... 20 years, and

find new elements to bring to

that role, it’s a very exciting

thing for an actor.’

STREET FIGHTERS

Some of Eileen’s most memorable

moments in Corrie have been her

catfights with Gail Platt.

The best barney was in 2004,

when Gail squared up to her over

the fact that Eileen’s son Todd had

been in a secret gay relationship

while he was engaged to her

pregnant daughter, Sarah.

Thankfully, off-screen, Sue and

cast mate Helen Worth (Gail) are

great friends and, in fact, Sue

turned to Helen for advice when

she first joined Corrie.

‘I was very anxious about the

celebrity side; it’s not something

I’ve ever been interested in,’ she

explains. ‘Helen was brilliant on

advising me how to deal with it.’

ARRESTED!

Eileen paid the price when she

got on the wrong side of Owen

Armstrong. The pair started

dating in 2010, and when

Eileen discovered he was

seeing Liz McDonald behind

her back, she plotted revenge;

cashing a cheque for £10,

that Carla had left for Owen

at the builders’ yard, and

blackmailing Owen to keep

quiet with evidence that he

was guilty of tax evasion.

But Owen had the last laugh

when he called the cops on her.

‘She was devastated,’ says

Sue. ‘Especially as the police

arrested her in front of her

colleagues at Underworld!’

CORONATION STREET IS

PREVIEWED ON PAGES 22-

Family: Eileen

with her sons

Jason and Todd

Revenge plot:

Blackmailing

Owen backfired

for Eileen

Catfight:

Gail and

Eileen

2000

2004 2011