She describes herself as a “romantic” but actress Susie Blake has not dated anyone in more than 20 years.
The Coronation Street icon, 71, says she loves her life as it is and can’t see herself falling in love again.
“I’m a romantic but I live alone,” says grandmother Susie, who was married to actor Martin Potter from 1978 to 1998.
“I’m perfectly happy living alone. I am far too difficult. I haven’t dated since, I think, 2000. I like watching an old romantic film.
"I don’t see myself as being involved in it any more. I had a lovely, lovely time. And I’ve got a beautiful son out of it and some stepdaughters who live abroad.
"And I love working. I love people. It doesn’t occur to me that anybody else could share this life that I have. I love it so much.”
With a knack for winning roles in some of Britain’s best-loved shows, Susie has lots to look forward to.
She’s about to return sitcom Mrs Brown’s Boys as posh mother-in-law Hilary Nicholson, or “Hitlery”, as Brendan O’Carroll’s Agnes pronounces it.
“We’re doing some more in April and by then with any luck we might have a live audience again,” she says.
“Filming Mrs Brown is an absolute delight.”
The actress is so busy that appearing in the BBC hit means she has to take time off from her role in the stage show revival of Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em with Joe Pasquale.
And last month she filmed with Dame Brenda Blethyn on Kate and Koji and her new comedy Silky Hotel has just launched on iPlayer.
Later this year she’ll be taking the musical Fisherman’s Friend to the stage for the second time.
Yet remarkably, just two years ago as the pandemic swept he world, the star feared her life was over.
Susie, who turned 70 in April 2020, even said her goodbyes to family and friends, convinced that Covid-19 would finish her off.
“I feel so grateful I’ve survived it,” she says. “I even had conversations with family, saying, ‘Look, if I go, think only this of me…’
We did confront it. I was 70 and that was the sort of cut-off point.”
After the first lockdown, Susie threw herself into work, appearing on Not Going Out with Lee Mack and the late Bobby Ball who died of Covid months later.
Susie’s character had to kiss Lee, and making the scene Covid-secure raised a smile.
Susie said: “Lee was playing an old man, I was me. They had to bring in a plastic screen for us to kiss, which was hysterical.”
Working and tending her allotment near her London home kept her sane but she missed human contact.
She said: “I’ve got two granddaughters. They were up this last weekend. It’s magic to hold people again.”
But she laughed: “If I’d been shut away with someone I think there’d have only been one of us left at the end of it.”
Susie, who’s cousin is Pollyanna actress Hayley Mills, loves creating memorable characters.
One of her most loved was Rovers landlady Bev Unwin on Coronation Street, which she played from 2003 to 2006 then reprised in 2015, to deliver the news that Deirdre Barlow had passed away, after actress Anne Kirkbride’s death.
But Susie wouldn’t consider joining a soap again. “It’s a young man’s game or certainly middle aged and I’m past that.
"Theatre is more physically demanding because you’re leaping about and travelling, but to tell a story from beginning to end is much easier than having 15 episodes in your hand at a time. It’s really difficult and really mentally exhausting.”
For many of her fans, Susie’s greatest achievements are her comedy roles, ever since Victoria Wood cast her as the continuity announcer on her show As Seen On TV.
But her gift for making people laugh had a difficult beginning: her mother suffered with depression and Susie spent much of her childhood trying to make the household happy.
“My mum used to call me rubber face, which wasn’t very kind. I was the clown to try to keep everybody, cheerful. That’s kind of stuck.”
Susie credits 30 years of being a Buddhist for helping her stay cheerful through lockdown.
She said: “My Buddhist practice came to fore. We had Zoom meetings every week. We were able to communicate and chant together and look out for each other.”
Susie filmed BBC iPlayer drama Silky Hotel during lockdown, playing played a romantic hotelier called Barbara Blah opposite John Henshaw.
Susie loves dressing up and is thrilled to return to Mrs Brown’s Boys because Hilary has a posh wardrobe and blow dry.
Susie said: “Hilary does get to wear the most gorgeous clothes. The make-up, props and costume departments are unbelievable.”
Hilary isn’t the show’s most sympathetic character and Susie admits she has a special talent for playing snooty women.
She said: “Hilary’s a monster. I’ve been playing those a lot. My Victoria Wood character was the same, speaking inappropriately about things, letting rip with her opinion and it’s difficult sometimes when you’re playing what you consider to be the bad guy.
The character in Victoria Wood was a frightful woman but then a lot of people agreed with her. That was always rather shocking.”
One day Susie plans to retire to Denville Hall, a residential home near London for showbiz veterans.
She said: “I’ve got aches and pains. arthritis in my fingers, my knees are not great, I had sciatica during lockdown.
"It’s not easy, but the great thing is to accept it and not complain, as it’s so tiresome. If I got to 90, that would be amazing. But I will take myself off to Denville Hall because I really don’t want to be a burden to anybody.”
- Silky Hotel is available on BBC iPlayer now.
