View Full Version : No more Betty's hotpots
Betty Driver has reportedly revealed that she intends to retire at the end of the year.
The Coronation Street stalwart, who turns 90 in 11 days, said she wants to end her long-running role as Weatherfield's Betty Williams on a high by taking a large part in the soap's 50th anniversary celebrations.
According to the News Of The World, Driver told a friend: "If my health holds up I want to get through this year and take a big part in the anniversary celebrations. Then my plans are to put my feet up and have a long overdue rest."
Driver's 41 years with the soap were recognised with a 'Lifetime Achievement' gong at last night's British Soap Awards. In a recorded video message, she said: "I'm not very good at making speeches but I want to thank everyone at ITV."
bless her, she deserves to retire are 90
moonstorm
10-05-2010, 09:13
She looks great for 90! Definately deserves a wee rest.
CORRIE legend Betty Driver called soap bosses from her hospital bed last night - to insist she won't be quitting.
Betty, who is 90 in ten days, is suffering a chest infection.
She rang new executive producer Phil Collinson to scotch reports she'd quit as barmaid Betty Williams after 41 years.
A source said: "She was upset as she has every intention of staying on the show for as long as possible."
Meanwhile, a Corrie spokesman last night denied rumours that there were plans to axe Steve Huison (Eddie Windass) and Andrew Whyment (Kirk Sutherland).
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/2966198/Coronation-Streets-Betty-Driver-insists-shes-not-quitting-soap.html#ixzz0nVvH6n93
Corrie boss reassures Betty Driver over job:
Coronation Street's new producer Phil Collinson phoned show veteran Betty Driver yesterday evening to assure her about her future with the show.
A Sunday tabloid reported that the 89-year-old - who won this year's 'Lifetime Achievement' trophy at the British Soap Awards - had expressed her intentions to retire after the show's 50th anniversary celebrations in December.
However, Corrie bosses were quick to ensure that Driver knew her job was safe and that she is "very much" a part of their golden year.
A source told The Mirror: "She told him she hadn't been saying anything about wanting to retire. She's obviously not as fit as she used to be but she loves the place and everybody loves her."
They added: "She was assured by Phil that she is very much part of our 50th anniversary plans later in the year and she was pleased with that."
tammyy2j
10-05-2010, 10:59
She looks very well for her age
She looks very well for her age
I agree, I didn't realise she was nearly 90.
Chris_2k11
10-05-2010, 15:27
I would have said about 80
sean slater
12-05-2010, 15:14
Surely thats a mistake, 90?! I wish we saw her more. Its not like Dot in EE where she constantly gets a storyline. Betty has been in and out, she can take up to about a year off at a time. She doesnt feel like a regular cast member. Which is a shame cos back in the 90's she had a few storylines.
No, Betty is indeed 90 years young :)
Betty Driver has revealed that she will stay on Coronation Street beyond its 50th anniversary celebrations.
The 90-year-old actress, who had previously announced plans to retire, has recently been assured of her place on the show by new producer Phil Collinson.
She told the Manchester Evening News: "I'm not leaving. You’ll have to shoot me to get rid of me. I'm 90 and I aim to be 100 and still working."
Driver had been asked whether there was any likelihood of her alter ego - Betty Williams - being killed off in the show's tram crash storyline later this year.
parkerman
20-07-2010, 18:34
"I'm not leaving. you'll have to shoot me to get rid of me. I'm 90 and I aim to be 100 and still working."
Good for you, Betty! :thumbsup:
Wonder whatever happened to the storyline that someone was to die from food poisoning after eating one of Bettys Hotpots
She did not die, it was the other barmaid who was a couple of weeks older than Betty, they found out it was not food poisening, she had too much to drink :)
CORONATION Street bosses are calling last orders on Betty's famous hot pot.
They are saying goodbye to the Rovers Return's staple dish as they're worried actress Betty Driver, 90, will retire soon.
And as character Betty Williams has kept the recipe secret for her entire 41 years on the show, bosses will start to introduce a replacement dish in the coming months.
Sally Webster's herby lamb cobbler is the favourite to replace it.
A source said: "It's been discussed at a very high level what will happen to the hot pots once Betty has quit the show.
"The consensus is that it would be a fitting tribute to Betty to let the hot pots leave with her.
"Having Betty's hot pots in the show without having Betty there wouldn't be totally comfortable.
Herby lamb cobbler could well be the new Rovers signature dish for the next 50 years."
Coronation Street's Betty Driver has admitted that she would "die of boredom" if she ever retired.
The 90-year-old actress, who joined the ITV soap in 1969, told The Mirror that she won't quit her role as Betty Williams.
"If I retire, I'll be dead in six months with boredom," she said. "I love working. I can't retire, I won't retire - I never ever will. I don't believe in it. I think you're foolish if you give up a job you love."
She continued: "I've got a lot of friends who've got to 65 and said, 'Right, well we've done our bit now, we'll pack it in.' And I've watched them grow old - you can see them suddenly getting old. You mustn't do that. It's working so hard that keeps me young."
Williams insisted that she won't let health problems get in her way.
"I won't give in. I've had operations for two new knees earlier this year and just a few months ago I had pneumonia," she said. "Even though I was ill, I always knew I'd come back to the Street.
"We all have terrible times at some time or other, but I tell all my friends - you mustn't give in. You've got to have an enthusiasm for life."
She added: "When I was young, I didn't even think I'd be alive at 90, let along working."
Coronation Street's Betty Driver has revealed that she receives letters from children who want her to be their grandmother.
Driver, who has played Betty Williams in the ITV soap since 1969, told The Mirror that she often becomes emotional reading mail from viewers.
"She's very straightforward, but, above all, she's a homely character, isn't she?" she said of the barmaid famed for her hotpot. "And a lot of my fan mail comes from children - I get hundreds of letters from them."
"They say, 'Will you please be my nana?' or 'I'm 7 and I'd love you to be my nana'. I sit reading them in tears. But it's marvellous, isn't it? And I send them a little letter and a photograph."
Driver also admitted that she never expected to still be in the soap after 41 years.
"I thought I'd be gone in six episodes," she said.
Coronation Street actress Betty Driver has revealed that she has never eaten a hot pot.
The 90-year-old, who has played Rovers barmaid Betty Williams since 1969, told ITN that she does not know what it is in the iconic dish.
"That's a very good question," she said. "Because I don't cook."
She admitted: "I wouldn't eat a hot pot, as I don't eat red meat."
Driver added that the dish is "top of the bill" at the ITV soap. "It doesn't matter about all the artists," she said. "That hot pot is the top."
The actress recently claimed that she won't retire from the show because she would "die of boredom" without it.
Coronation Street fans finally have the chance to sample Betty Williams's much-loved hot pot - all in aid of charity.
A limited edition version of the Rovers Return favourite has been made available to raise funds for the soap's 50th Anniversary Appeal. The Manchester Evening News reports that proceeds will be split between three charities - Cancer Research UK, the NSPCC and The Christie - each chosen by the cast.
"We wanted to celebrate the anniversary of Coronation Street by raising money for its charity appeal, so we came up with the hot pot meal idea," Brendan Hennessey, the hotel's manager, said.
"It means that visitors from abroad and around the UK can get involved but, more importantly, so can the locals from Manchester - most of whom have grown up watching the Rovers' famous hot pots on their TV screens."
Corrie's executive producer Kieran Roberts added: "As part of our 50th anniversary activities the cast and crew felt it was important to give something back in the form of an official appeal."
Coronation Street's Sean Tully faces a crisis of conscience next week after taking Betty Williams's legendary hotpot recipe away from the Rovers Return.
Sean (Antony Cotton) was left stunned last month as he discovered that Betty had entrusted him with the task of continuing her hotpot legacy at the pub.
However, the meal's future at The Rovers is thrown into doubt in the coming days as Sean has a huge row with Stella Price (Michelle Collins) over his lack of hotpot making.
Sean is losing patience with Stella putting pressure on him to create fresh supplies of the dish, so he quits his job and takes the secret recipe with him.
Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) seizes on this opportunity and hires Sean to serve up Betty's hotpot at the Bistro instead. This results in a furious Stella threatening legal action.
Sean is unrepentant until Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) informs him that Betty would be turning in her grave if she knew the hotpot was no longer on the Rovers menu. Will Sean patch things up with Stella?
A new CD will celebrate the early recording career of Coronation Street legend Betty Driver.
I'll Take Romance showcases highlights of Driver's 20-year recording career, from her very first song 'Jubilee Baby', released in 1935 when she was just 14, to her last commercial recording 'Let's Gather Round the Parlour Piano', which was issued in 1954.
The 22-track album features 12 songs that were previously unavailable on CD as well as three live ones taken from rare radio broadcasts, including her 1955 performance of 'The Sailor with the Navy Blue Eyes'.
http://digitalspyuk.cdnds.net/16/06/1280x1272/gallery-1454962859-stage2330.jpg
Betty Driver - I'll Take Romance cover
© Stage Door Records
Driver's 1949 recording 'Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (I Love You)' is also included and is currently featuring in the Waitrose Pick Your Own Offers television advert.
The star passed away in 2011 at the age of 91. She had played Rovers Return barmaid Betty Williams for 42 years, appearing on screen for nearly 2,800 episodes from 1969 to 2011.
Aged just 9, Driver began performing professionally in music hall variety and became one of Britain's best-loved singing stars of the 1930s and '40s, hosting her own radio and television programmes and starring in three feature films.
Betty Driver - I'll Take Romance is released on February 26 through Stage Door Records. Full track listing is as follows:
1. JUBILEE BABY
2. THE LITTLE WOOLLY VEST
3. THE ALPINE MILKMAN
4. IT'S MEN LIKE YOU
5. I LOVE TO WHISTLE
6. I'LL TAKE ROMANCE
7. THE SWEETEST SONG IN THE WORLD
8. I FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU EVERY DAY
9. SO LITTLE TIME
10. OH MA-MA!
11. WHAT GOES ON HERE IN MY HEART
12. RED MAPLE LEAVES
13. I'VE GOT A HUNCH
14. WE MUSTN'T MISS THE LAST BUS HOME
15. TWITTERPATED
16. MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY (I LOVE YOU)
17. THE BULLFROG (SAMBA)
18. LET'S GATHER ROUND THE PARLOUR PIANO
19. I KNOW YOU'RE MINE
BONUS TRACKS
20. CONCHITA MARQUITA LOLITA PEPITA ROSITA JUANITA LOPEZ (LIVE)
21. YANKEE DOODLE CAME TO LONDON TOWN (LIVE)
22. THE SAILOR WITH THE NAVY BLUE EYES (LIVE)
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