Bill Roache "misses" being on the ‘Coronation Street’ set – but admitted it is "quite nice" not to have any lines to learn.
The 87-year-old actor – who has played Ken Barlow on the cobbles since the ITV soap’s first episode on December 9th, 1960 – is staying away from the set after filming was paused amid the coronavirus pandemic, and he believes the show has two months’ worth of episodes in the bank.
He said: "I will say that it’s quite nice to not have any lines to learn, for a change! I do miss it as it’s a very happy place to be. I love working there.
"The show is going to ration the episodes.
"We’ve got about a two-month store. I’m keeping in touch with colleagues during this time. I’ve been emailing my Rula Lenska [Claudia Colby], alongside one or two others."
Bill has turned his hand to painting during lockdown, and has also been writing.
He added to OK! magazine: "I have my two children, Verity and Will, with me currently. I have a nice house with a garden where we are self-contained.
"My daughter is an artist so we’ve been doing paintings, I’ve been doing some writing and we have sections of the house to ourselves in the morning before we get together. In the evening, we get together again and watch TV."
What’s more, Bill has continued to meditate while he is in isolation, and he recently taught ‘This Morning’ viewers a simple meditation technique to deal with coronavirus stress and fears.
Appearing from his home in Cheshire, Bill said: "To get yourself into a quiet state, a peaceful state, this is what I do. I find a place – and I’m actually sitting it in now in my conservatory – where you know it’s peaceful and quiet, you’re not going to be interrupted, turn off your phones and your iPad.
"You’re going to have a break, and as you walk towards that place, leave all the cares and worries and fears behind. You’ve going to have a tea break from life. You get to this place, you need a chair that you can sit upright but comfortably in. You sit down, and you can’t not think.
"What you want to think about is your breathing, and you want to balance your breathing nice and smoothly. I like to think of the gentle waves on the seashore. As they come in, you breath in, as they go out, you breath out."
Bill Roache ‘misses’ being on Coronation Street set
