Corrie Audrey star's romance with his evil co-star – from date horror to heartbreak | Celebrity News | Showbiz and TV

Fans of Coronation Street will be familiar with Sue Nicholls, one of the ITV soap's longest-serving stars. She made her debut in 1979 as Gail Platt's (played by Helen Worth) mother Audrey Roberts, before later establishing herself as a regular fixture on the popular show.

Since then, the 80-year-old actress has guided her character through a tragic suicide attempt, struggled through the chaos caused by her late biological son Stephen Reid (Todd Boyce) and had her heart broken by Lewis Archer (Nigel Havers). In the meantime, she has taken on roles as a city councillor and mayor and dealt with the fallout from her son-in-law, serial killer Richard Hillman (Brian Capron).

Despite being at the helm for 45 years, the veteran Weatherfield coach revealed earlier this year that she just couldn't shake the role. Appearing on ITV's This Morning in March, she explained: “I was asked to come for a week and then shortly after that I was asked to come back.”

“'No thank you' was not an option for me because I had so much fun the whole first week,” she continued. It seems Sue's persistence more than paid off because in 2003 she took home both Best Dramatic Performance and Hero of the Year awards at the British Soap Awards, while in 2019 she scooped the annual award for outstanding performance.

And she's found love in Coronation Street too: Sue has settled down with her co-star, who happened to be a villain on the show. Express.co.uk looks back at their sweet romance, from their first date to his tragic death.

In 1983, Sue claimed she experienced love at first sight when she met fellow Coronation Street actor Mark Eden at a fashion party.

Mark, who died in January 2021 at the age of 92, is known for his portrayal of Rita Tanner's (Barbara Knox) ​​villainous husband Alan Bradley from 1986 to 1989 and is considered one of the best soap villains of all time.

Sue said of their first meeting: “I was wearing one of those Greek dresses that you could order from a catalogue.

“He was sadly in the process of splitting up with his second wife and he was wonderful and that was it,” she continued, according to The Liverpool Echo. “I felt something straight away.”

The Corrie co-stars married in 1993, two years after Mark's character was killed by a tram in Blackpool.

In his later years, Mark suffered from Alzheimer's disease and was hospitalized in November 2020.

The couple remained married until the actor died “peacefully” in January 2021.

Sue had previously revealed that her first date with her late husband Mark almost ended in disaster.

“The first time we went out, I almost had a car accident, he made me laugh so much,” she explained.

“I had to pull over to the shoulder. He stayed there overnight.”

“But if you can't be a little brave in your late thirties, when can you? And it's the only time I've ever chased anyone.”

She added that she thought her former husband was a “very romantic, very handsome man.”

Although the former Alan Bradley student had three children from a previous relationship, the couple decided against starting their own family, according to Sue.

In a candid conversation with The Mirror in 2019, she admitted that she met Mark “late in life” and that's why “it just didn't happen that she wanted children.”

“As much as I would have liked it, I didn't have a family to raise and take care of… maybe that helped me stay young.”

However, Sue continued to claim that she “does not regret” her and her late husband’s decision.

“It's OK – I never thought about it or how unfair it was to me because you just never know what else is going to happen in life,” she added.