Joanna Lumley recently snubbed the chance to return to 'Coronation Street'.
Joanna Lumley
The 71-year-old actress left the long-running soap in 1973 as Elaine Perkins when she turned down Ken Barlow's (Bill Roache) marriage proposal, but bosses were keen for her to reprise the role three years ago but she had to turn down the offer because she already had other work booked in for when they wanted to record her scenes.
She told The Sun newspaper: "Three years ago they said: 'Would you fancy picking this up again?' They wanted Elaine Perkins to come back. I said yes. They said: 'These are the dates when we are filming.' But it was when I was doing one of my travel pieces for ITV. It was a pain. I think I am past it now. But Ken is still around."
Joanna made the decision to leave the soap because she realised that the public were starting to turn against her character because she branded the cobbles "too boring."
She recalled: "Ken came round to my posh house and asked me to marry him and Elaine said that 'Coronation Street' was too boring. Britain hated me and I left."
The 'Absolutely Fabulous' writer recently admitted she took on the role all those years ago because she was "skint" and was convinced she'd be there for at least 15 years.
She explained: "I was absolutely skint, and then I was brought up to 'Coronation Street' to be Ken Barlow's girlfriend. And, what's more, he was going to ask me to marry him!
"I thought, I shall be in 'Coronation Street' for 15 years! Then they said, 'You turn him down'. I said that I can't turn him down. It's Ken Barlow, he's the nation's heartthrob! And his wife had just been killed by a hairdryer."
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