Long-running Coronation Street legend Barbara Knox has signed a new contract to stay on the Manchester-based soap as she turns 90 this month.
The actress, who has appeared on the ITV programme since 1964, is set to continue playing the part of Rita Tanner (now Rita Sulivan) well into 2024.
The star first joined the soap in 1964 for a one-off appearance before playing the part on a full-time basis from 1972.
This places Barbara Knox second behind Ken Barlow, 91, for the oldest star on the show.
'Executives delighted' as Barbara Knox agrees to stay on Coronation Street well into next year
An insider told The Sun: “Barbara is in Corrie’s DNA. She is a true pro and the executives were delighted that she put pen to paper to ensure she’s on screens into next year.
“Corrie is a lovely, steady place to work with a supportive team so it makes it easy to fit around family, having kids and as the cast have grown older.
“It was a no-brainer for Barbara to sign on the dotted line when the regular renewal of contracts came around this year.”
Appearing on 3885 of Coronation Street's 10,700 episodes, Barbara Knox is thought to earn around £200,000 from the ITV show as one of its most iconic names.
Despite her reputation, Barbara is said to still worry about whether or not show-runners will renew her contract year after year.
Co-star Sally Ann Matthew said of the legend: “I count myself very lucky that when I first joined the show, I had Barbara to work with – she's a real pro.
“Every year, she thinks she's not going to get another contract. I'm like, 'Seriously, Barbara?'
"If she ever forgets a line, which is very rare, she won't sleep that night – she's terrible. I tell her off all the time. Not many people can!”
Barbara Knox is set to turn 90 on September 30 in a huge milestone for the star.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here