Jennie McAlpine was "so scared" to return to ‘Coronation Street’.
The 35-year-old actress has returned to the cobbles to reprise her role as Fiz Stape after taking maternity leave to have daughter Hilda, now 10 months, but she feared she wouldn’t be able to act anymore after being away from the ITV soap.
Jennie – who also has four-year-old son Albert with her husband Chris Farr – said: "I was so scared to come back, I won’t lie.
"I didn’t know if I’d still be able to do it, almost like coming back to school after the summer holidays, and you question whether you can still write, but it’s just like riding a bike, so we’re alright."
Fiz is set for an explosive return to the cobbles as her daughter Hope Stape (Isabella Flanagan) will be caught up in a fire in the coming episodes, which leads to more questions about the youngster’s behavioural issues.
Jennie added: "Fiz has been keeping things under wraps after the fire. She knows that Hope’s behaviour hasn’t improved, and has an inkling that there’s more to find out about the starting of the fire.
"Tyrone becomes a bit suspicious of Hope, and Fiz almost exhausts herself emotionally by reassuring those closest to her that her daughter isn’t capable of anything like this.
"It then becomes apparent that Hope may be getting worse.
"I feel that Fiz has been strung along by the stress caused by this little girl. She just wants the best for her daughter, she’d do anything for her and just wants a happy family unit.
"It’s upsetting because I think she knows that a normal family isn’t going to be normal.
"She’s torn because she loves Hope, but at the same time she’s disgusted by her actions and if she was anybody else’s daughter, she certainly wouldn’t be pulling any punches and would, in typical Fiz style, be very critical of them."
Jennie recently admitted she felt as though she was thrown in at the deep end upon her return to filming, rather than be eased in.
She said: "I’ve got out of the habit of [learning lines], but actually it is just like riding a bike and I kind of just did it.
"They do that to you at ‘Corrie’ – I think they do it on purpose, they’re a bit cruel to be kind – they just threw me right in, day one."
Jennie McAlpine ‘so scared’ about Coronation Street return
