Anne Kirkbride’s family are advising ‘Coronation Street’ producers on how to write her character out of the soap.
The actress sadly passed away aged 60 in January after losing her battle with cancer and it’s now been revealed her family members are working with the ITV drama’s writers to decide how her long-running character Deirdre Barlow should be written out of storylines.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "They don’t want to do anything that would upset Anne’s family or disrespect the legacy of one of their most popular characters.
"They think it’s best to make a joint decision about the best way to wave goodbye to Deirdre."
Anne – who starred in Corrie for over 40 years – had taken a three-month break from the show because of "personal issues" but was set to return last month before her shock death.
Deirdre left the Weatherfield cobbles last year to stay with friends while her son Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) was on trial for the murder of Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan) and producers are now deciding on how best to mark her departure this summer.
The storyline will see the soap’s longest running character Ken Barlow, played by William Roache, have to come to terms with losing his wife.
William, who was close friends with Anne both on and off set, previously spoke about saying goodbye to the beloved actress while she was in hospital.
He said at the time: "Saying goodbye was something I wanted to do, because I knew what was happening – that wasn’t hard, that was beautiful – it was the whole thought of her not being around anymore that is the hard thing."
Anne Kirkbride’s family advising ‘Coronation Street’ writers
