Michelle Keegan has hailed her former Coronation Street co-star Helen Worth "a legend" as she opened up about her support on the cobbles at the very start of her career. Her comments come after it was announced that Helen would be leaving the soap after 50 years. The actress, 37, recalled how Helen's words of wisdom on the set of the ITV soap years ago stopped her from panicking about an intense upcoming scene and "took a weight off her shoulders".
Michelle grew up in Greater Manchester with her parents Michael Keegan and Jackie Turner and her younger brother Andrew. She attended St Patrick's RC High School in Eccles and later the Manchester School of Acting, where fellow Corrie alumni Suranne Jones also studied. READ MORE: Coronation Street fans surprised over off-screen 'twin' update for Hope and Joseph stars READ MORE: Read more of our Coronation Street stories here But, before getting her first role, Michelle's first jobs included working at Selfridges in the Trafford Centre on a make-up counter, having worked at various stores from the age of 15 to 20, and at Manchester Airport as a check-in agent.
She was then offered the part of Tina McIntyre in Corrie in only her second-ever audition in 2007, beating around 900 other people who auditioned. Tina made her ITV soap debut when she had a chance encounter with David Platt while her character was visiting the Rosamund Street Medical Centre. During an interview on stage in Manchester last week at GLAMOUR's Empowerment Summit,.