Amanda Barrie feared Coronation Street axe if her sexuality was exposed
Amanda Barrie was worried she would be sacked from 'Coronation Street' if her bisexuality became public knowledge during her stint on the soap.
Amanda Barrie feared she would have been booted off ‘Coronation Street’ if her sexuality was exposed.
The 89-year-old actress - who played Alma Halliwell, the wife of factory owner Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs), in the ITV soap on and off from 1981 until her alter ego's death from cervical cancer in 2001 - knew she was bisexual during her run on the cobbles, but she did not say anything because she thought some cast members at that time would have refused to work with her.
Amanda - who publicly came out in 2003 and married crime novelist Hilary Bonner in 2014 - told Best magazine: "It would never have been a big deal with me in any sort of a way, but I was convinced I would have got the sack from 'Coronation Street' if I'd been exposed.
"There would have been people in the cast at that time who would have said, 'I'm not working with her.'
"I will not name or shame them, but that's how it was."
The star, who separated - but never divorced - from her husband of 20 years, the late actor Robin Hunter, warned Hilary when they first met that if anything happened between them, their life would be "very different".
She explained: "My now wife, Hilary, 76, was a journalist and writer, and from the moment we met, I told her if anything happens between us, you won't be able to just bounce into a room - things will be very different.
"We both had been married before to men, yet when we got together, she didn't have to go through anything like that.
"It almost became fashionable."
Amanda is turning 90 in September and she hinted that Hilary may throw a surprise birthday bash - which she joked the shock of it "might kill" her.
The 'Carry on Cleo' star added: "She gives a party at the drop of a hat.
"She does surprise parties, and she's very good at it.
"If she does throw me one, the shock might kill me (laughs)!"
Asked if she has any health hacks to keep on living to a good age, Amanda shared: "I've never been good at looking after myself.
"I have always got through everything because on stage you just do.
"You pretend you're alright, and by the time you come off, you often are."
