Coronation Street's first Tracy Barlow quit acting for a different 'rewarding' career

A former Coronation Street actress has opened up about her change in career, years after she stepped away from her role as Tracy Barlow.

Dawn Acton, from Ashton-Under-Lyne, now works in the charity sector and is a part time DJ.

The former actress has admitted she loves her life since embarking on her new ventures, becoming well-known on the music scene in Manchester.

She originally joined Coronation Street aged 11 in 1988, taking up the role of troubled teenager, Tracy Barlow.

Her storylines at the time focused on her relationship with her mother, Deirdre, played by Anne Kirkbride, with Tracy becoming resentful of her mother’s rocky marriage with her husband, Ken Barlow, in 1995.

The former actress is now a well-known DJ in Manchester (Manchester Evening News Syndicat)

Dawn ended up leaving the show in 1999. She auditioned for her old role when Tracy returned in 2003, with Kate Ford going on to secure the gig instead.

Despite not returning to the cobbles, the former actress has fallen in love with her new career paths, going on to volunteer for the charity Beanstalk, which teaches children to read.

According to The Sun, in 2016, Dawn admitted her work is ‘rewarding’.

She said: “Obviously I do miss working in Corrie but I do find the work I do now very rewarding. The fact is I believe everyone should have the chance to learn to read.

Tracy Barlow's teenage years were troubled as she began to resent her mother over her rocky marriage to Ken Barlow (Granada Television)

“I still do DJing but I like volunteering for Beanstalk as I supported children to read about things they were interested in and for them to be able to get enjoyment from it.

“When my son was young, and I wasn't working as much through the day I had some time on my hands, and I love reading and it's all about trying to help children understand that reading isn't necessarily a chore.”

Dawn described her new career paths as 'rewarding' (ITV)

As for her music career, she told Christine Lampard on Lorraine in 2019: "Oh I love my music, I’ve been DJing for over 15 years now. I love my live gigs."

But Dawn hasn’t forgotten her time on the soap, paying a heartfelt tribute to her on-screen mother, Anne Kirkbride, when she passed away in 2015.

Dawn said: “She was always so great with kids and she just had a really funny sense of humour, we got on immediately and had lots of fun together.

“She did see me grow up and she was always really supportive.”