Three marriages, two kids, a string of affairs, umpteen catfights… and one constant yearning to remain on the Corrie cobbles.
Sally Dyvenor – the Street’s long-serving and at times long-suffering Sally Metcalfe – today reveals how a desire to stay in the soap for years to come drove her on during the bleakest of times.
Eleven years ago, her character broke down as she told then hubby Kevin Webster that she had breast cancer.
And fans recall how Sally’s real life would mirror her art as she was soon battling the cruel illness off screen too.
Sally – whose TV years are chronicled in a Coronation Street special on Wednesday – says: “Corrie was a beacon actually. I realised how important my work is to me and I was desperate to get back, because as soon as I got back to work, I could try to put it behind me, which I think I have done.”
It was while filming scenes in which her character was diagnosed with cancer that Sally noticed a lump of her own.
A check confirmed her worst fears and she took six months off to get treatment.
Her breast cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, so she had to undergo surgery to remove them, a lumpectomy and a gruelling course of chemotherapy.
Sally, 57, reveals: “I’ve got a few things that run through my mind occasionally about that time in my life, but generally I think I’ve put it to bed and work has really helped me on that.”
And while Sally Metcalfe’s evil father-in-law Geoff may have forced her out of Weatherfield for now, the real Sally has no plans to ever leave the Cobbles.
She hopes to give Street legends like Bill Roache, 88, and Barbara Knox, 86, a run for their money.
“When I look at Bill, Barbara and Sue Nicholls, they’re incredible,” says Sally. “Nobody knows their lines better than them. I hope I’m still in the show in my 70s and 80s – if they’ll have me!
“I’m very sociable, I love coming in to work and I want to keep going as long as I can.”
On screen, ex-Weatherfield mayor Sally is someone who speaks her mind and the actress would love her to become a battleaxe in the mould of Ena Sharples, played by the late Violet Carson.
“I’d like Sally to be more of a busybody when she’s older – somebody who thinks they’re right in everything they do or say,” she says.
“But I’d like her to be there for people, so she’s someone that people felt they could talk to – she’s also quite caring.”
After 34 years, Sally is the soap’s seventh-longest serving star.
Her first scene was in January 1986 – berating mechanic Kevin for splashing her as he drove through a puddle.
Little did viewers know they would go on to wed – twice – and have two kids.
But Sally, who has appeared in more than 3,300 episodes, may be a reluctant viewer of this week’s “Icons” tribute.
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She explains: “I hate watching myself!” I’m not a very confident person, so I criticise everything about myself and what I’m doing. I think of the thousands of ways I would have done the scene differently and I think ‘God, do I look like that?’ All those things go through your head. It’s everything. I don’t like my voice or my mannerisms. My voice is so annoying – I don’t know where my accent’s come from! If there’s an episode and I’m not in it, I love it.”
Coronation Street Icons will also be one of the few times her kids – Phoebe, 25, Sam, 23, and Hattie, 16 – have watched her on TV.
Sally, married to Emmerdale screen-writer husband Tim for 25 years, says: “They’ve never been totally excited by me being in Coronation Street, because I’ve been in it all their lives. But they’ve never seen the young Sally or me starting in the show. It will be so strange for them to watch me at their age.”
Sally was 22 and had just one TV appearance behind her – an episode of cop show Juliet Bravo – when she joined Corrie as Sally Seddon. On TV she is mum to daughters Rosie and Sophie – played by Helen Flanagan and Brooke Vincent – and was partner to Kevin – Michael Le Vell – for 25 years.
After their second divorce, she wed Tim Metcalfe, played by taxi boss Joe Duttine.
Sally also reveals how she turned up for her first episode with spiky hair, eye shadow and wearing wild clothes.
Le Vell, 55, warned that his character Kevin wouldn’t go for someone who looked like that.
Sally recalls: “In those days there was Mary the punk in EastEnders and I thought ‘Yeah, she’s cool, I really want to look like that’.
“I got on the set and Mike Le Vell went ‘Oh my God... that won’t last long if she’s a punk.’ So I went back to make-up, washed it all off, just put on normal make-up and went back on to the set. But it would have been quite interesting if Sally had been a punk all these years!”
As well as the breast cancer storyline, her highlights down the years include the rollercoaster relationship with Kevin, the current coercive control plot with Geoff and Yasmeen and the live 50th anniversary episode featuring the explosive tram crash.
Another classic showed her being soaked in pasta by Corrie’s Abi Franklin – actress Sarah Carman, real-life fiancée of Joe Duttine.
But Sally admits that for many years her character was in the background. She goes on: “Sally was very gobby – a firecracker when she came in. Then she married Kevin and they were this happily married couple, kind of like wallpaper, really, for a few years.”
But a break-up and numerous love interests thrust her character back into the spotlight.
“Some of it was very embarrassing to film,” Sally chuckles.
“I’m very glad that I’m now at an age where I don’t have to do those sort of scenes any more!” That doesn’t mean we won’t see Sally slip up here and there – well, not if talk of an appearance on next year’s Dancing On Ice comes true.
Sally, who was spotted arriving at an ice rink for show auditions, says: “I don’t know whether anything will come of it to be honest.
“It’s something I’ve always been interested in, but I’m not a natural!
“I took Hattie once and we both had a penguin [balance aid] to help us. Even then, after about five minutes I thought ‘Oh God, I can’t do it,’ so I got off and watched her. I even find it hard to stand on one leg when I’m doing yoga!”