The first member of George Shuttleworth's family is set to arrive on the cobbles of Coronation Street - and they won't be doing so quietly. The character, played by Tony Maudsley, made his debut on the famous street in 2020 and next week, fans of the ITV soap will be introduced to his sister Glenda.
The week starts with Sean Tully attempting to cook a roast to impress his son Dylan. But when he receives a text from Dylan telling him that he’s gone for a pizza with his mates, Sean serves up the overcooked pork to George, Eileen and Todd Grimshaw. But there's a dinner disaster as when George takes a bite, he is alarmed to realise he’s broken a tooth.
George promises Eileen that he’ll see the dentist, but Mr Pugh's funeral must come first. A guy called Troy approaches George, but having discovered that Troy works for the opposition and was hoping to buy the business, George tries to wrestle his notebook from him. As the two men grapple on the cobbles, Mrs Pugh arrives and watches with disapproval. Todd confronts George with the written offer from Rest Easy of £400k, is George tempted to sell after all?
Later, George arrives at the undertakers for Mr Pugh’s funeral and reveals that he has taken Eileen’s strong painkillers to ease his toothache but Todd realises he’s as high as a kite. Todd shoves George into one of the funeral cars. As Mrs Pugh gives Todd the third degree.
Then, George’s sister, Glenda, arrives and clocking George asleep in the back of the funeral car, quickly takes charge of the proceedings. As Glenda, Todd and Sean celebrate how well the funeral went, George arrives ad he’s thrilled to see his sister and introduces Glenda to Eileen.
The arrival of 'fun and sassy' Glenda was revealed back in June and it was also confirmed that the new arrival will be played by Jodie Prenger. The actress and singer said at the time that she has fulfilled a lifelong dream of being cast as cruise performer Glenda, and she has now revealed more about her character who will debut in Weatherfield at the start of August.
"She's a woman to be reckoned with," Jodie smiled when speaking to the Manchester Evening News and other press about her latest gig. "She reminds me a lot of my mother. She's just fun, she's sassy, and she's a bundle of energy. I think she comes with that experience... she comes off a cruise ship and that is like a vibrancy with her. She's a dream to play."
Asked why Glenda has headed to the cobbles now and about the moment she arrives on the street, Jodie said: "Well, she arrives and I think she was having a ding dong with the sous-chef but ended up having an affair with the percussionist so had to get out of town. It got all a bit too much for our Glenda and so she had to a back door boogie and come to Weatherfield to see her brother."
She added of Glenda's first moment back with George: "She does it for her brother, you can tell there's a lot of love there and you can tell it comes from a close-knit family which is lovely. And from the minute you meet Tony, you will all know, you just fall in love with him. You fall in love with everyone, you really do."
As for whether Jodie has based the character of Glenda on anyone, she said: "I've based her on a lot of experience. I used to work on a cruise ship, I used to do the Disney ships. But you do, you base her on people you know." The 43-year-old added: "There's a lot of my Nan, the way she puts people in her place."
But Jodie does see herself in Glenda. She laughed: "I'm as close to Linda as yo're going to get when you look at the character. I said, 'Have they looked at interviews I've done before or things I've said', because tiny little things... all that's in there. Stuff I say is in there and it's so lovely to play a part that is so similar to yourself."
And the West End star has undergone a change for her appearance in Corrie. "It's a very colorful wardrobe but especially with the hair," she said when discussing her character's 'rowdy' style. "I went from being blonde to going red which I love. I've never gone this colour and I absolutely love it. She then laughed: "My towels don't love it in the bathroom after I've dyed my hair but no, I do love the colour."
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