Ruthie Henshall joining Corrie as Estelle

[Perdita]

I?m A Celeb star and West End royalty Ruthie Henshall set to join Coronation Street
It appears we may be set to welcome a new character to Coronation Street, as I?m a Celeb star Ruthie Henshall has teased a role in the ITV soap.
Taking to her Instagram stories, Ruthie posted a photo of some Coronation Street scripts, hinting that she may be the next big name to join the show.
Either that, or she?s stolen someone else?s!
On the scripts were lines for a character called Estelle who, judging by the highlighting over them, we can assume is who Ruthie will be playing.
Also visible on the page is a line from barmaid Glenda, played by fellow West End icon Jodie Prenger.
Ruthie Henshall is best known for her roles in West End musicals, such as Roxie in Chicago and Nancy in Oliver!.
However, she is no stranger to the screen, having previously appeared in BBC daytime soap Doctors.
She played the role of Miranda Evans, who was intent on pursuing a relationship with Bear Sylvester (Dex Lee), but left after being turned down.
It will be interesting to see what Estelle will bring to the cobbles, and whether or not she will be a regular character.
There is plenty going on on the Street at the moment, with killer Stephen Reid (Todd Boyce) continuing to cause havoc, with his sights now firmly set on Carla Barlow (Alison King).
Elsewhere, Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan) is facing the torment of stalker Justin (Andrew Still), while Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) and Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) have been trying to deal with Damon (Ciaran Griffiths) and his drug dealing empire.
So just where will Estelle fit into all of that? We?ll just have to wait and see!
Metro.co.uk has reached out to Coronation Street for comment.

[parkerman]

Ruthie Henshall had her first-ever professional engagement at my theatre back in 1986 in that year's Summer Season.

Right from the start her sparkling talent was obvious and we quickly got her to sign a contract for the following year before anyone else got to her. Ruthie was enjoying her time at the West Cliff so much that she signed on the dotted line. Some years later, she reflected on this hasty move, ?Being young and inexperienced, I signed up too quickly for a second season and was thus taught one of the hard rules of the game: a contract is a contract. Hardly was the ink dry on the paper when I was offered the prize part of Maggie in a new national tour of that great musical, ?A Chorus Line.?

?Clearly I was desperate to do it, but I was committed to the Clacton contract. In the end, however, I had the best of both worlds. I signed up to open the first part of ?A Chorus Line? tour. The Company let me out for the 1987 West Cliff season and I then rejoined ?The Line? for the rest of its run.?

In 1987, at the end of the tour, Ruthie?s next move was straight into the West End to star as Jemima in ?Cats?.

She has returned to the West Cliff to appear in shows over the years and I have met her several times.

It'll be good to see one of our most famous discoveries in Coronation Street as long as they don't giver her any of the silly stories which now seem to be the norm.

[lizann]

Ruthie arrives in Weatherfield in April playing Estelle, an old friend of Glenda Shuttleworth, played by fellow theatre star Jodie Prenger.

Viewers first meet Estelle having a run in with George about the cost of her mother?s funeral but when she bumps into Glenda the row is forgotten as the pair reminisce over their time on the cruise ships together.

It?s not long before Estelle is trying to talk Glenda into buying into her theatre school franchise Little Big Shotz, but how will Eileen react when George offers to help his sister with financial backing?