Bill Roache has revealed his last words of comfort to Anne Kirkbride.
Anne Kirkbride and Bill Roache on Corrie
The 'Coronation Street' legend - who has played Ken Barlow on the soap since its first episode in 1960 - has candidly opened up about his final meeting with his on-screen wife before her sad death aged 60 in January 2015.
In his new book 'Life and Soul', he wrote: "She was unconscious, sedated with morphine, but she had a glow that seemed to come from within.
"I held her hand. I felt a tremor and hoped that was a sign she knew I was with her. I thanked her for everything. 'Goodbye, Annie,' I said. 'You know you're going to a beautiful place.' "
In an extract published by the Mirror, Bill admitted their on-screen marriage felt like a romance "in a parallel life", and paid tribute to their similarities.
He continued: "With Annie, it felt like being married in a parallel life - Ken and Deirdre - even though we'd go our separate ways in the evenings.
"Annie and I were kindred spirits in many ways."
The 86-year-old actor previously claimed to have been visited on the set of the ITV soap by Anne the day after she lost her battle with cancer.
Speaking in 2015, he said: "I walked towards that set, I felt her presence because she did have an incredible presence.
"I saw her the day she died, she died in the evening on the Monday and I went that afternoon and I was warned she'd lost a lot of weight."
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