Ex-EastEnders actor to take place behind Weatherfield bar as Stella, a 'feisty blonde with plenty of attitude'
As Cindy Beale in EastEnders, she was television's undisputed queen of mean. But Michelle Collins is to swap Albert Square for the cobbles of Coronation Street this summer, as she becomes the newest landlady of the Rovers Return.
Collins will take her place behind the bar as Stella, described, in typical soap landlady fashion, as a "feisty blonde with plenty of attitude" ? sounding not a million miles from a former Rovers landlady, Bet Lynch, played by Julie Goodyear.
Collins may have left EastEnders 15 years ago, but her character is still remembered for being possessed of the most calculating, cheating heart in soap.
Cindy had affairs, became pregnant by Simon Wicks and eventually hired a hitman to kill her husband, Ian Beale, before dying in prison during childbirth.
Stella and husband Karl will arrive in the Street this summer to help owner Steve McDonald run the pub. Soap fans will be unsurprised to learn that it soon emerges Stella is harbouring a dark secret from her past. Turbulent times lie ahead.
Collins will be the latest in a long line of formidable Rovers landladies that include beleaguered battleaxe Vera Duckworth (made licensee as husband Jack had a criminal record), Kevin Webster's one-time mistress, Natalie Barnes, who left on becoming pregnant by potman Vinny Sorrell, and the never knowingly overdressed Liz McDonald.
Collins has largely avoided the downward career spiral that afflicts many former soap stars, having appeared in Two Thousand Acres of Sky, Sea of Souls and the Bafta-winning drama The Illustrated Mum.
The soap star transfers
It's not unusual for ex-soap actors to crop up on The Bill ? but few successfully make the transition from one soap to another.
Michael Starke who played Sinbad in Brookside, moved to Coronation Street as single dad Harry Morton, while Vicky Binns, Corrie's Molly Dobbs previously appeared as troubled teenager Ollie Reynolds in Emmerdale.
Christian Ealey actually played the same character, Matt Musgrove in both Brookside and Hollyoaks. While Alex Carter managed to go from playing Lee Hunter in Hollyoaks to Jamie Hope in Emmerdale and then back again.
Similarly Emily Symons played Marilyn Chambers in Home and Away before taking the role of Louise Appleton in Emmerdale ? and then returned to the Australian soap.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/apr/15/michelle-collins-coronation-street
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