Coronation Street legend Denise Welch reveals why she felt she had to quit the soap as Natalie Barnes
The actress played Natalie for three years.
Former Coronation Street star Denise Welch has revealed why she left the ITV soap.
The actress, who is reprising her role as wayward teacher Steph Haydock in the new series of Waterloo Road this month, played cobbles favourite Natalie Barnes between 1997 and 2000.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other media at a recent press junket, she explained that she agreed to return to the classroom on the condition that her role hadn't changed radically since her first stint in the late '00s.
"There wouldn't have been a point in playing her if she became sort of dull, dowdy and boring," she explained.
"I've never, ever gone back to a role in my whole career. Some people come into different shows, they go away for a few years, they come back. I've never done it."
This is probably why we shouldn't expect man-eater Natalie to stroll back into Weatherfield again in the future.
"I played this real scheming b**ch, but in order for you to stay, sometimes they have to soften the character," she said, speaking of her time in Corrie.
"It got to the point where they'd softened Natalie to the point that she was Emily Bishop. I said, 'I can't do this anymore. Who is she?', so then they had to sort of crank it up again, and get the line right."
Luckily, for Steph Haydock, Welch believes the Waterloo Road writers "have got the line right", and she's "loving it".
Natalie was introduced to Coronation Street as a device to break up Sally and Kevin Webster's (Sally Dynevor and Michael Le Vell) happy marriage, luring the mechanic into an affair while his wife was visiting her unwell mother in Scarborough.
Upon Sally's return, the infidelity was exposed and Natalie realised she couldn't live a life helping to raise another woman's children.
She subsequently married Des Barnes (Philip Middlemiss), who was killed while trying to defend her son Tony Horrocks (Lee Warburton). Seeking a new direction, the character then purchased the Rovers Return from Alec Gilroy (Roy Barraclough).
Natalie later departed, giving birth to a daughter that was fathered by former partner Vinny Sorrell (James Gaddas) off-screen the following year.
Waterloo Road season 17 will arrive on BBC iPlayer at 6am on Tuesday 6th January, with the first two episodes airing that evening on BBC One at 9pm and 10:40pm. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
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Authors
Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
