# UK Soap and Drama Discussion > Coronation Street > General >  William Roache is still up for Ken Barlow enjoying more romance, even after 27 women

## Perdita

He's romanced nearly 30 women and notched up four marriages during his time on the cobbles.

And despite nudging 80, Coronation Street legend Ken Barlow is not quite ready to say goodbye to his lothario image just yet.

Incredibly, actor William Roache, who has been in our living rooms for 50 years playing Ken, is begging scriptwriters to sex up his storylines even more.

Bill, the only remaining character from the first episode in 1960, wants a racy romance to celebrate the soapâs 50th anniversary this autumn.

And despite his age Bill is quite the charmer. Huddling up on the sofa, placing a re-assuring hand on my knee, the bubbly star grinned: âA few more gorgeous girlfriends would be lovely. How are you fixed, darling? Youâd be great as my on-screen girlfriend.â

But donât dust down the wedding hat just yet because thereâs only one true love in Kenâs life.

Of his on-screen wife Deirdre (Anne *Kirkbride), Bill says: âWeâre like a married couple in a way off-screen as well.

âWeâre really fond of each other. Weâve done so much together. Iâm lucky to have someone to work with like her. If she ever left Iâd be very upset, just as Bill Tarmey (Jack Duckworth) was when Vera went.â

But first and foremost Bill is desperate for the racy plot lines to continue â including more âhot barmaidsâ to get his teeth in to. âI thought it was great last year having a girlfriend, *especially at my age. A few more would be great.

âIâve lost count of romances Iâve had in the show not to mention the four weddings.

âThe lovely Joanna Lumley being one of my girlfriends was a particular highlight. Not a bad life is it?â

He added: âKen did *misbehave last year with Stephanie Beacham. Iâm pleased about that too.â

As we chat over tea, fruit scones and clotted cream at the posh Hilton hotel in Manchester, a gaggle of grannies swoon over the surprisingly youthful MBE. He waves over cheerfully and smiles.

Then a group of lads in their 30s *recognise him and pat him on the back, offering to buy him a drink. Unfazed by his popularity, Bill says: âI love my job.

âI donât want to retire. While they want me, while Iâm useful â Iâd love to stay.

âWith my dysfunctional family Iâm still useful to the show. An alcoholic son, a murderess daughter... Itâs good drama.â

Incredibly, he will be the worldâs longest-serving soap character this winter.

âThereâs a guy in New York in As The World Turns who beats me by two months, but his show is not being commissioned this year. So Iâll be in the Guinness Book of Records as longest-serving TV actor.â

And the dad-of-four says of staying young: âIâm 78 this month. I donât exercise but I donât smoke or drink much. Itâs in the genes. However, I do like champagne. Iâll celebrate my birthday with a glass or two and have dinner with my children.â

It is surprising how upbeat he is, *considering the tragedy he suffered last year. His wife Sara died suddenly at their home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, aged 58.

Bill admitted he cannot contemplate romance. Speaking softly he said: âIâm just looking after the family, dealing with things, taking life as it comes. Weâre coping and life is going forward. Iâm trying to get my two children settled in London.

âThe fans are wonderful. People are very caring, Iâd like to thank them all as I didnât manage to answer all the letters as there were a tremendous amount.â

Despite playing Ken for so long, Bill says he is nothing like the character and is fed up of his weedy image. âPeople always say Ken and I are interchangeable,â he says, âbut thatâs not true. Over 50 years, there have been moments where Iâve had a problem with that.

âThe scriptwriters are brilliant, but they can be very naughty sometimes with little things I might not like. âOne example was in the Ken-Mike-Deirdre scenes. Ken was being made out to be a sort of wimp.

âImagine when your wife has had an affair with somebody youâre having an argument with your wife in your hall.

âThereâs a knock on the door, the guy sheâs having an affair with is standing there smug. You stand there while he has a long dialogue at the door saying, âAre you all right Deirdre? Is there anything I can do,â and Ken just stood there. So I said to the director, âSorry, as an actor I cannot do thisâ.

âThe director said: âWhat do you want to do?â I said âI want to hit himâ.

âHe said we couldnât do that because itâs not in the story. I said well let me go to hit him and then he can shut the door. So I really went for it. However by mistake I caught Deirdre and it made her cry.

âWe stopped and she said, âI didnât know it was gonna be like that.â I said, âWell it is.â I went too quickly so I caught her. She was really staggered at the ferocity.

âWe set up again and I thought Anne isnât going to move quick enough so I slammed her against the wall. And that was the scene we got lots of awards for.

âPeople said it was brilliant. Anne was brilliant. She was crying but carried on.â

Once the cameras stop rolling Bill gives his all for causes he believes in.

Despite being partially deaf from a mortar bomb on National Service in 1953, he doesnât let that hinder him on set.

Bill, who is fronting the 2010 Specsavers Sound Barrier Awards, said: âMy hearing affected me socially. Charity balls, pubs were a nightmare, anywhere where thereâs noisy background and on set when people whisper. It went off at full blast in my ear. I was deaf for about three weeks. It was a tremendous ringing.

âIn those days I thought Iâd get over it but I didnât realise the extent of the damage. Sometimes itâs a nightmare. I avoided pubs, noisy places. I would often miss out. If someoneâs talking and I miss an important word they think Iâm daft.

âI never regarded it as a major thing until I had tests done and virtually 50% of my hearing was obliterated.

âYoungsters are exposed to so much stuff â nightclubs and turning the volume up at home on computer games. Terribly important to get this message over.â

But he is over the moon with a digital hearing aid he had fitted. He said: âYou can hardly tell itâs there. Iâm very pleased with it. Now I can come clubbing with you.â What would Deirdre say?

* Bill is encouraging people to get free *hearing tests at Specsavers and to enter the Sound Barrier Awards recognising the achievements of those with hearing difficulties at specsavers.co.uk/hearing by July 1.



Mirror

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## alan45

Coronation Street legend Bill Roache is falling in love again.

The 78-year-old soap veteran, devastated when wife Sara died unexpectedly 18 months ago, looked full of joy as he shared a tender kiss with TV weather girl Emma Jesson who is nearly 40 years his junior.




Bill walked Emma, 41 who looks astonishingly like Sara to her car after she visited Granada studios in Manchester.

The actor, who has played Ken Barlow for 50 years, gazed fondly into her eyes before hugging her goodbye.

One onlooker who saw them laughing and joking like besotted teenagers said: Its great to see Bill smiling again.

He seemed blissfully happy. He was beaming.

Bill shattered last year when Sara died suddenly from heart failure aged 58 after 31 years of blissful marriage has been friends with Emma for several months but has grown closer to her in recent weeks.

The TV weathergirl is younger than Bill's two children from his first marriage to actress Anna Cropper Linus, 46, and Vanya, 43.

But the actor is said to be thrilled and excited about his blossoming relationship. A Coronation Street source said: Some people might think it's a bit sudden but it has taken Bill by surprise too.

He and Emma have enjoyed numerous dates and have also socialised with friends of his and of hers. When they are not together they talk regularly on the phone.

Bill really enjoys Emma's company and loves spending time with her. She is loyal and caring and they are taking things very slowly.

Hes a lovely gentleman. Its great Emma has made him smile again.

Our source added: Emma is a lot younger than Bill, but he is very young at heart.

After all, Sara was his junior by almost 20 years when they met, she was 24 and he was in his early 40s.

Luckily Sara didn't care. Her reaction was Oh well, you don't look it and Emma has the same opinion.

Lancashire-born Emma is a freelance weather girl for ITV Central in Birmingham and ITV Granada where she is known for a trademark bye bye sign-off.

She originally studied to be a vet but moved into TV, training with the BBC as a radio reporter.

She became GMTV's first weather girl in 1993 based in Birmingham but left when they relocated to London.

She has had a cameo role in Coronation Street and is a horse racing fan who has done racecourse weather forecasts for Channel 4's The Morning Line.

Her new relationship will delight friends and family of Bill who has two children from his marriage to Sara, interior designer Verity, 29, and actor James, 24.

They feared he would never get over losing his perfect wife, who collapsed in bed at their home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in February last year.

Sara never recovered consciousness and a post-mortem revealed she had an undiagnosed irregular heartbeat.

Speaking to The People soon after the tragedy, Bill admitted he was totally lost and said: I didn't even know how to pay the gas bill.

One friend said: After Sara died, Bill was very low for a long time and constantly seeking out time to be alone in his dressing room.

He knew that he had to stay strong for his family because that was what Sara would have wanted.

At that point, just getting through each day was a struggle, so it is a relief to see him finally enjoying life again.

They are taking things gradually but Emma is perfect for him. She is easy-going and fun, but also sensitive enough to know how much he has been through in the last 18 months.

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## Chloe O'brien

Good for Bill. Glad to hear he has found some happiness in his life.

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## Perdita

TV weathergirl Emma Jesson has spoken for the first time about her relationship with Corrie's Bill Roache.

Emma, 42, was first snapped with Bill, 78, in August - 18 months after his wife Sara died suddenly.

The met at a celebrity bash, and she said: "We were immediately comfortable in each other's company."

Emma says Bill is different to his character Ken Barlow. 

She told Woman's Own: "Although Ken's younger, in real life Bill's quite mischievous. It's Ken who's stuffy."

Of their future, she added: "I've no children and never been married. People close to us know how Bill and I are with each other. That's all that's important."



Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz12mGOM500

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## Perdita

The secret love of the man who plays Ken Barlow must be a tricky role for any woman even one as used to the TV cameras as Emma Jesson.

Now the play-acting is over as the attractive weathergirl has finally admitted they are an item.

And she has talked for the first time about her relationship with legendary Corrie star Bill Roache, 78.

Emma, 42, opened up in an exclusive interview with The People, telling how the pair tried to keep their closeness under wraps for the sake of Bills grieving family after his wife died.

Emma smiles shyly as she recalled how love surprised them both.

She said: When we met, Bill and I both thought we had our lives sorted, and we did, but there was an instant connection between us.

We were immediately comfortable in each others company and we had good chemistry. So the friendship just progressed from there.

But there have been difficult times. A while ago a photographer phoned and was claiming to have a picture of us checking out of a hotel together.

Romance

I was panicking, thinking, Oh God, this is all going to blow up.

Known to be unflappable on camera when doing the weather, Emma laughs uncomfortably as she remembers how afraid she was that the depth of their relationship would be discovered.

But her sincerity and down-to-earth nature came into its own.

Emma said: It was hard but there were good reasons why we couldn't speak about it at the time because it was not just us two involved.

We had to consider how Bills family would feel if they were to read about us in the papers while they were still grieving for their mum.

Bill has children Linus, 46, and Vanya, 43, from his first wife the actress Anna Cropper and Verity, 29, and William, 24, from his 31-year marriage to Sara.

The family were devastated by Saras sudden death from heart failure aged 58 in March 2009.

Emma has been keenly aware Bills children may not be quick to give their blessing to their widowed fathers romance with a woman 36 years his junior.

She said: When we first got together Bills family were OK. But then things became a bit more tentative for a while. We just have to be a bit delicate.

Family is just so important to Bill and I respect and understand that.

Emma, who has never been married, added: This time of year was always going to be especially hard for them as Christmas is when most families are getting together.

She recalled: Even after we were pictured outside Granada studios we had to hold back and treat the whole situation quite delicately. I was worried that by speaking out we would be opening a Pandoras box of emotions that would be impossible to close again.


So people had to read between the lines about what was going on then.

I think we have been lucky that everyone has been very kind.

But some fans have not been quite as warm and encouraging to Emma.

In September she accompanied Bill to a special charity dinner in tribute to him, attended by the cast of Coronation Street. Emma said: After we went to the Variety Club dinner together I had lots of comments on my website from members mainly men.

They were saying they had seen the dress I had been wearing before.

It was a blue and green halter neck and I was wearing it because it is Bills favourite and he asked me to.

But these mens messages said that I thought so little of Bill that I couldn't even be bothered to buy a new dress.

I couldnt believe it when I read that. It is hurtful but I suppose you just have to laugh it off. At the end of the day Bill and I know how we are with each other. That is what matters.

When asked about his on-screen persona as Ken Barlow, she said: Although Ken is younger, in real life Bill is quite mischievous. Its definitely Ken who is the stuffy one.

The People revealed in August, a year and a half after Sara died, that Bill had grown close to Emma.

The couple were spotted looking full of joy as they shared a tender kiss outside Granada studios in Manchester. Bill gazed fondly into Emma's eyes before hugging her goodbye. Months later they made their first public {appearance together, posing happily for photographers outside that Variety Club dinner in Bolton.

So how has Emma been coping with all the sudden attention?

She revealed: I still find it a bit overwhelming sometimes. Bill is very calm about it all because he is obviously used to the spotlight.

Ill panic when I'm talking to people in case I say the wrong thing, while Bill will be telling me its all right.

I suppose I should just grow up and learn to deal with it.

Lancashire-born Emma, a freelance weather presenter for ITV Central and ITV Granada, became GMTVs first weathergirl in 1993 but left the station when they relocated to London.

Bonded

Her father Bob Hargreaves was a top amateur jockey in the 50s and she is a horse-racing fan who has done racecourse weather forecasts for Channel 4s The Morning Line.

Emma has had a cameo role in Coronation Street and first met Bill, who is the longest-serving TV actor in the world, at a party thrown by their shared management company.

The pair bonded after Bill opened up to Emma about his beloved Sara. She had died a month before Emma lost her dad Bob, 78, to cancer.

Emma said: Our first conversation was actually about life and death.

It was quite heavy, not the normal small talk that you would expect. We spent a long time discussing how we were both feeling about it.

A few months later we met at an annual party for the Rainbow Trust.

It was from that point that things really began to happen.

So it will be a year this June and were planning to go to the same party together.

With a warm smile, Emma added: It will be nice to be sitting on the same table as him this time.


People

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## Perdita

Bill Roache has opened up about his love life, including rumours of a fling with former Coronation Street star Pat Phoenix.

The veteran actor, who plays Ken Barlow on the ITV1 soap, discussed the rumours during an episode of Piers Morgan's Life Stories which is due to be televised next month.

Roache said of his liaison with Phoenix, who played battleaxe Elsie Tanner on Coronation Street: "It was just a one-off. It was just something that happened one night when we were together. We weren't right for each other.

"She invited me round to her flat and we had a few drinks, then one thing led to another. At that time, she had a reputation and I had a reputation, and she felt we should meet, as it were. It just happened."

Roache also claimed that he was given the nickname "C**k Roache" by the cast because of his sex drive and revealed that he cheated on first wife Anna Cropper as a result.

He initially revealed that he had slept with "more than 100" women, but when pressed as to whether the figure was closer to 1,000, he said: "Well, I'm not denying it."

Roache also discussed the fallout from his infidelity and divorce from Cropper, revealing that he started drinking after the former couple separated in 1974.

"There were plenty of girls around. I shouldn't have done it. I didn't have any control over my own sex drive. I didn't have the strength to control it," he revealed.

"It depressed me. I'm so sorry for the things that I did. The hurt was the children. I'll always regret that. Every morning I woke up regretting and hurting."

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## alan45

> He initially revealed that he had slept with "more than 100" women, but when pressed as to whether the figure was closer to 1,000, he said: "Well, I'm not denying it."
> 
> "


What man of his age would deny it.

A man who sleeps with a lot of women is regarded as a legend wheras a woman who sleeps with a lot of men is regarded as a slapper.   Unfair isnt it

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CrazyLea (15-03-2012), Dazzle (18-03-2012), sarah c (15-03-2012), Siobhan (15-03-2012), tammyy2j (16-03-2012)

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## Perdita

Bill Roache has opened up about his relationship with second wife Sara and the death of their young daughter Edwina in 1984.

Speaking during a forthcoming appearance on Piers Morgan's Life Stories, Roache credited Sara with keeping the family strong. The couple married in 1978 and were together until she died suddenly in February 2009.

"We were in bed one night and she just died, no big heart attack or stroke, she just died in my arms," Roache recalled. "It took us nine months to work out her cause of death, and her body stopped producing the chemical to make it beat.

"She did everything for me and the children. She kept us all together and we had to pick ourselves up and carry on. It was a very difficult time."

Roache also opened up about the death of the couple's daughter Edwina, who passed away from pneumonia in 1984 at the age of 18 months.

"Edwina had a bad cold. My parents-in-law were babysitting," he recalled. "When we got back, Sara checked on Edwina and she was fine. We then made a cup of tea and then about 45 minutes later Sara went to check on her again and she was gone, she had died.

"I felt so guilty. You're supposed to look after your children. It was an unbelievable shock.... On the actual morning of her funeral, I woke up and I saw a bright ball of golden light and Edwina's face was in the middle of it smiling, and with it came a wonderful feeling of peace."

Roache also said that he believed losing a daughter brought him and his wife closer together, adding: "We grieved for some time, then we got to the point that we could talk about her and the actual strength in our relationship [came] because we talked the whole time. The letters that we got were amazing."

During the interview the actor, who plays Ken Barlow on Coronation Street, was also candid about his past womanising, also confirming that he had a fling with his former co-star Pat Phoenix, who played Elsie Tanner on the show.

He said that Sara "knew exactly what I was like", but added: "She knew I'd changed."

Roache's appearance on Piers Morgan's Life Stories is due to air next month on ITV1.

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## alan45

Ken Barlow's conquests
Compared to actor Bill, Ken has been well behaved with only 28 flings

1960-1961: Susan Cunningham, student

1961: Marion Lund, librarian

1961-1971: Valerie Tatlock (first wife)

1964: Pip Mistral, exotic dancer

1966: Jackie Marsh, reporter

1971: Yvonne Chappell, receptionist

1972-1973: Norma Ford, shop assistant

1973: Elaine Perkins, graduate

1973: Rita Littlewood

1973-1974: Janet Reid, (second wife)

1974: Gaynor Burton

1974: Peggy Barton, unionist

1976: Wendy Nightingale, graduate

1978: Sally Robinson, chiropodist

1979-1980: Deirdre Langton

1981: Sonia Price, yoga instructor

1981-1990 Deirdre Langton, third wife

1984: Sally Waterman, secretary

1989-1990: Wendy Crozier, secretary

1991: Alma Sedgewick, cafÃ© owner

1992-1993: Maggie Redman, florist

1994-1996: Denise Osbourne, stylist

1996-1997: Deirdre Rachid

1997: Sue Jeffers, headmistress

1999-2010: Deirdre Rachid, fourth wife

2002: Anita Scott, Historical Society chair

2009: Martha Fraser, actress

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## CrazyLea

1973: Rita Littlewood 
Is that Rita Rita? Or a different Rita?

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## Perdita

> 1973: Rita Littlewood 
> Is that Rita Rita? Or a different Rita?


Yes, Rita Littlewood, Rita Fairclough, Rita Sullivan are one and the same  :Smile:

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## alan45

> 1973: Rita Littlewood 
> Is that Rita Rita? Or a different Rita?


I think Ken got to "know" her when her son went to Bessie St School. Thats taking the PTA a bit far

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Dazzle (18-03-2012)

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## CrazyLea

Omg look at Ken. And Rita was looking rather beautiful! Not that's she's not lovely now, but wow bet she was a stunner in her younger days! 

Didn't realise they had a kinda thing!!

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## Kim

Deirdre Rachid and Deirdre Langton are the same person as well.

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## alan45

> Deirdre Rachid and Deirdre Langton are the same person as well.


yes

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## tammyy2j

Wow Ken was with Rita he should try and get Audrey and Emily next  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Dazzle

Great picture, Alan  :Big Grin:

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