Perdita
25-02-2009, 05:51
FRIENDS fear for Coronation Street star Bev Callard after she dramatically took time off.
Sources close to the normally bubbly actress said they were worried after discovering she has not been at the TV studios for over a week.
One said last night: “We have no idea when she’ll be back. She is talking to very few people at the moment and we’re obviously desperate to know she is OK.”
Bev, 51, who plays Rovers landlady Liz McDonald, suffered severe money troubles after her dream of running a real-life pub turned into a nightmare.
She and her partner Jon McEwan poured hundreds of thousands into the venture but still ended up having to close after facing the threat of bankruptcy.
The couple worked long hours to make the pub a success — yet Liz was still having to get up at 5am to be on Corrie’s set by 7am.
The source added: “It has taken its toll. We knew she had terrible financial problems, which must have been a stress.
“It is awful to see her like this because she is such a bubbly, warm woman. But I am sure she will be OK because she is a fighter.”
Bev told two months ago how she was left devastated after The Gallery in Hale Barns, Cheshire, collapsed.
The final straw came when a brewery representative turned up with a demand for £59,000 in unpaid rent.
Bev was forced to lay off former on-screen son Nick Cochrane — Andy — who she hired to run the restaurant.
She and Jon had put £200,000 into the pub and spent £50,000 on renovations plus tens of thousands more to keep it afloat.
Bev said recently: “The pub was a black hole which took all our cash and all our time. We couldn’t cope any more.”
Sources close to the normally bubbly actress said they were worried after discovering she has not been at the TV studios for over a week.
One said last night: “We have no idea when she’ll be back. She is talking to very few people at the moment and we’re obviously desperate to know she is OK.”
Bev, 51, who plays Rovers landlady Liz McDonald, suffered severe money troubles after her dream of running a real-life pub turned into a nightmare.
She and her partner Jon McEwan poured hundreds of thousands into the venture but still ended up having to close after facing the threat of bankruptcy.
The couple worked long hours to make the pub a success — yet Liz was still having to get up at 5am to be on Corrie’s set by 7am.
The source added: “It has taken its toll. We knew she had terrible financial problems, which must have been a stress.
“It is awful to see her like this because she is such a bubbly, warm woman. But I am sure she will be OK because she is a fighter.”
Bev told two months ago how she was left devastated after The Gallery in Hale Barns, Cheshire, collapsed.
The final straw came when a brewery representative turned up with a demand for £59,000 in unpaid rent.
Bev was forced to lay off former on-screen son Nick Cochrane — Andy — who she hired to run the restaurant.
She and Jon had put £200,000 into the pub and spent £50,000 on renovations plus tens of thousands more to keep it afloat.
Bev said recently: “The pub was a black hole which took all our cash and all our time. We couldn’t cope any more.”