Sue Nicholls told Rula Lenska to "forget it" when her co-star attempted a northern accent during her first stint on ‘Coronation Street’.
Rula will reprise her role as Claudia Colby on the ITV soap this week for the first time in seven years, and has admitted she tried to speak in a Manchester twang when she joined the programme in 2009 but Sue (Audrey Roberts) advised her against it.
She said: "I tried right at the very beginning with darling Sue. I said, ‘I’m not very good with regional accents but can I try it out on you?’ She said, ‘Go on.’
"My first line the first time I was there was, ‘The cleanliness in these toilets is second to none,’ which is not a phrase that trips easily off the tongue anyway.
"I tried … but she said, ‘No, no. Forget it.’ So I’m not quite cut glass, but I’m not northern."
Rula’s return will see Claudia attempt to appoint Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon) to her hairdressing empire, infuriating Audrey, and the 70-year-old star is hoping the pair’s feud will get "bigger and better" over the coming months.
Speaking on ITV’s ‘Lorraine’, Rula said: "I’m hoping the Claud and Aud feud gets bigger and better, but also that Claudia gets fleshed out a bit more and you find out more about her background."
Rula recently admitted she would love to remain in Weatherfield for the foreseeable future.
She told BANG Showbiz: "I’d love to do a year or a couple of years and get embroiled in the family of ‘Coronation Street’.
"This is my first time in the new studios. Already now I’ve had dealings and scenes with people who I had no contact with before. So it’s looking good."
Coronation Street’s Rula Lenska ditched Manchester accent
