'I was only blonde because of Becky': Outgoing Corrie actress Katherine Kelly on her new hair and posh new stage role

By Alanah Eriksen


She's known as the feisty, chain-smoking blonde on the Cobbles.

But Coronation Street actress Katherine Kelly says that withing minutes of filming her final scenes, she headed to the salon to wash Becky McDonald out of her hair - literally.

The 32-year-old said she couldn’t wait to look in the mirror and feel like her old self again.

Heading to the dark side: Katherine Kelly died her hair brunette just minutes after filming her final scenes on Coronation Street

'I’d only ever been blonde because of Becky and I wanted my natural colour back,' she told the Sunday Mirror.

't was hard to remember what that was. 'So when I finished filming I went straight to the hairdressers. My hair was so thin at the ends through all those years of dyeing that my stylist felt it was better to cut it shorter.

She now sports a stylish brunette bob that she says she is thrilled with.

'My own brother didn’t recognise me. And my mum said "I’ve got my little girl back".'

The actress is looking forward to her new role on stage in 18th century comedy She Stoops To Conquer, at the National Theatre.

She plays post Kate Hardcastle, who pretends to be a maid.

Katherine shared her enthusiasm with fans yesterday, tweeting a picture of herself in an old-fashioned corset dress.

It is not her first time on the stage -the RADA-trained actress was a leading lady at the Royal Shakespeare Company for two years from 2004.

Her first TV appearance was in 2003 in an episode of Last of the Summer Wine and has appeared in Silent Witness, The Royal, No Angels and Life on Mars before joining the Street in 2006.

Old-fashioned: The actress is looking forward to her new role on stage in 18th century comedy She Stoops To Conquer, at the National Theatre

Her new character is a far cry from Becky, but the actress says she will miss playing the role and has taken some memorabilia with her.

'I’ve kept the necklace, her four rings and leopard print coat. It was £50 from H&M,' she said.

But she won't miss Becky's 20-a-day smoke habit.

'I smoked herbal ones on set. They’re great because they give off a lot of smoke, so they’re quite theatrical. But I pity the camera crew because they stank. And they tasted awful.'

She begged producers not to kill Becky off, leaving the door open for a return.

Katherine told The People: 'It would have to be the right story for Becky to ­return but I would never rule it out.

'It’s never been about money or the stories. How could you get bigger stories than those Becky’s been in?

'The fact I’ve stayed so long is testimony to the writers and producers – they made it irresistible.'

She will bow out of the show tomorrow night after hacking into the medical centre computer to find evidence to prove she didn’t push Tracy Barlow, played by Kate Ford down the stairs and make her lose her ­unborn twins.


Goodbye: Katherine is known as feisty, chain-smoking Becky McDonald on the Cobbles

Her new boyfriend Danny Stratton, played by Jeremy Sheffield, has asked her to move to Barbados with him.

She heads for the church where her ex Steve McDonald, played by Simon Gregson, is about to marry Tracy.

Becky has had her own wedding disasters.

The first time, she was too drunk to marry Steve and the next, shewas arrested for drug possession at her reception.

She has also been on violent drunken rampages, suffered two miscarriages and stolen money from the Alahans’ shop which had been destroyed in a tram crash, to pay her sister Kylie for her son Max.

Katherine, who lives in London with long-standing boyfriend actor Oliver Williams, 31, said her final scenes were extremely emotional, especially with friend, Julie Hesmondhalgh, who plays Hayley Cropper, who ended up in tears.

She is nominated for Best Serial Drama Performance at this week’s ­National Television Awards.


source:dailymail