Coronation Street star Kate Ford has admitted that playing Tracy Barlow used to send her "round the bend".

The actress, who returns to the ITV1 soap on Christmas Eve, revealed that her filming schedule was so intense she rarely got the chance to simply be herself.

She told the Daily Mail: "I was going round the bend. I'd come home from work at 7pm or 8pm, rehearse my lines for the next day, go to bed at midnight, and then at 7am I was Tracy Barlow again. But I still wanted the chance to come back. I said to the producers, 'Please don't kill off my character'."

Of her return, she said: "She's terrible to everyone she meets. She's expecting people to hate her, so she's horrible to them before they're horrible to her. With Tracy, I've never tired of trying to find the human in her - of asking what it is that makes her do it."

Speaking of her own similarities to Tracy, Ford added: "I was fiery, jealous. If a boyfriend spoke to a girl in a club, I'd shout, scream and storm off. But I'm a different person now - much happier. I'm more selfless now, too. I love [son] Otis more than I've ever loved anyone."