Coronation Street legend signs new mega-bucks contract to stay on cobbles
CORRIE stalwart Bill Roache has signed a new contract thought be for £250,000 which will keep him on the cobbles for another year.
The 90-year-old, who plays Ken Barlow, got his OBE for services to acting from the King at Windsor Castle last week.
He has been in the same role since the ITV soap started back in 1960, when he got £70 a week.
During his meeting with the King on Wednesday, Bill revealed they shared a joke over his recent saucy on-screen love triangle.
Bill explained: “He said, ‘Not still working are you?’. I said, ‘Yes, just had two ex-girlfriends on the show’.
“He said, ‘Oh that must have been work’, and I said, ‘May I wish you a long and joyful reign, sir?’. And he said, ‘Thank you, that will be a lot of work, too’.”
Bill holds the world record as the longest-serving TV actor in a continuous role and has said he would like to be the first 100-year-old who is still cast in an ongoing drama.
He said: “That’s my aim, to be 100 and still working on Coronation Street.”
Last week Ken was humiliated when the two women in his life — Wendy Crozier, played by Roberta Kerr, 70, and Martha Fraser, played by Stephanie Beacham, 75 — both snubbed him.
A Corrie source said: “Ken Barlow has been at the heart of Coronation Street since it started 62 years ago and that’s not changing any time soon.
“And as we’ve seen with his recent love triangle storyline, he’s no plans to slow down.
“Bosses have big plans for his character next year.”