Valerie Tatlock: Last News

Coronation Street actor Bill Roache has admitted he “really fancied” the Queen when he met her.The star, who is best known for playing Ken Barlow in the soap, also shared how he had gone on to meet the royal eight times over the years. Bill, who is set to turn 90 next week, first met the Queen, 95, during his younger years in the army, before his rise to fame in the ITV series.Speaking about their first encounter in a TV documentary, the actor said: “I’ve met the Queen eight times.”“I first met her when I was 21 and I was in the Army and we had the day with her which was very nice.“I really fancied her! I don’t know if that’s heresy but she was very attractive.”The soap actor spilled all about meeting the Queen in his new ITV documentary, Happy Birthday Bill, which celebrates his ninth decade around the sun. Bill, who will celebrate his birthday on April 25, also has “no intention of retiring”. He explained: “People will say when are you retiring? Are you going to take a break? But then what happens?“Whilst I can do it, and whilst they will have me, I have no intention of retiring. “I am so fortunate to work for an organisation that is happy to have me.”Bill has been a part of Corrie since the series first aired in 1960.His character Ken was involved in some major storylines a couple of years ago when the show celebrated an impressive 60 years of being on our screens. Heartbreaker Ken has notably been married three times, even reuniting with first on-screen wife Valerie Tatlock (Anne Reid) 50 years later, and well after she had left the show. Incredibly, Bill is in the Guinness World Records as the longest-serving television star in a continuous role.A young Bill joined the British Army and was commissioned into the