Jodie Prenger has fulfilled a lifelong dream by making her debut on Coronation Street. During scenes aired on the ITV soap on Friday night (August 4), viewers were introduced to Glenda, the 'fun and sassy' sister of George Shuttleworth, played by Tony Maudsley, who made his first appearance in Weatherfield back in 2020.
And the character was quick to make her presence known, coming to the rescue of her brother and saving the day. As viewers saw earlier this week, a dinner cooked by Sean Tully leads to disaster when George broke his tooth. But he delayed going to the dentist as the funeral of Mr Pugh came first.
Then, in typical George fashion, the day of the funeral arrived and the undertaker revealed that he has taken Eileen’s strong painkillers to ease his toothache but Todd realised George was high and shoved him into one of the funeral cars. Mrs Pugh arrived and gave Todd the third degree.
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But just in the nick of time, Glenda, arrived, clocked George asleep in the back of the funeral car and quickly took charge of proceedings. And as mentioned, Jodie making her debut as Glenda fulfills a dream of the actress who first came to viewers' attention as the winner of BBC series I'd Do Anything in 2008.
Her family have always been big Corrie fans and even have a link to one of the soap's icons. The 43-year-old told the Manchester Evening News : "My family are from Manchester, all from Moss Side and they used to have a laundrette and a cafe shop and my Nan's brother used to deliver Pat Phoenix's groceries." Getting tearful, Jodie added: "My nan, Terry Doyle, she worshiped Elsie Tanner.
"I think when your family have loved something for so long, it genuinely is an honour to be part of a constitution and a family. That's genuinely what it has felt like coming in. It's just a big, operating, lovely family and it's very, very special to me." She added: "On my first day I remember driving up to the gates at ITV and it felt like I was at MGM Studios. It was amazing. I didn’t need a trip to Disney World. I was already here!"
Away from Corrie, but just like her new character, Jodie has also worked as a cruise ship singer, having appeared on Disney Wonder for several months as one of the main entertainers. But she actually started out in cabaret performing in Blackpool before she shot to fame winning I Do Anything to play Nancy in Oliver in the West End.
The performer has also starred in Annie as Miss Hannigan, Shirley in Shirley Valentine, and as Kelly in the late Kay Mellor's Fat Friends the musical. Jodie also been in the National Theatre's production of A Taste of Honey, where she played a character called Helen, and has also done presenting stints as a regular contributor on The Alan Titchmarsh Show and This Morning.
But Jodie's home life couldn't be more different to the character she is now playing on-screen. "You wouldn't recognise me at home," she told us and other press. "There's no big hair or false eyelashes when I'm out with the animals. No heels or fancy clothes. There I am in my wellies and, to be honest, I'm feral. I love it!"
She added: "My mum bought me one of those massive sweater/ blanket things for Christmas - a 'slanket', I think they're called. I said to her, 'Mam, you'll never catch me wearing that.' You know what? It's barely been off my back!"
Jodie's homelife, however, is nothing short of quiet and being on Corrie means she can commute back home to and from filming. "My fella, Simon, like me being at home and so do my animals," she said. "My passion is looking after rescued animals.To be honest, I prefer animals to people! If I didn't do what I do, I'd devote my life to rescuing animals."
She went on to explain: "Fortunately, we have enough room at our place, which is near Preston, for the three rescue cows, three rescue ducks, three cats and three dogs we have at the moment. I also have about 17 rescue chickens including my cockerel, Harry. My poor Harry… he's not very well at the moment and he just loves having me home every day. I think I'm going to have to get him a little chicken wheelchair if there is such a thing!"
And she doesn't want to stop there: "I'd love more animals so if anyone knows of a one-eyed goat or three-legged-pig, I'm just putting that out there..." she said.
As she mentioned, Jodie is loved-up with her partner, businessman Simon Booth. The pair met in 2010 and just two years later, in 2012, Simon asked Jodie to marry him. But within days of their engagement, Jodie suffered a devastating loss as her father Marty unexpectedly died.
Her father, who had just been diagnosed with kidney cancer, took a turn for the worst and passed away 10 days later. Speaking of her sadness at the time in 2012, she told HELLO!: "I’ve never experienced the extremes of emotion that I have in the past weeks. I'm just so glad Dad knew I was going to be taken care of. Dad loved Simon like a son and always said I’d be safe with him. Simon’s a good man with a good soul, just like my dad."
Jodie was previously engaged. Whilst the singer was taking part in I'd Do Anything, her boyfriend at the time, Steve Greengrass, popped the big question during week three. Their first date had been just months earlier at Jodie's audition in Manchester. However, the relationship fizzled out in the months following.
He had already told press he was going to propose and after the relationship ended, Steve ended up doing a kiss’n’tell with a newspaper after their split. Jodie said later: "I don’t think he asked me to marry him out of love, but to make money because he even sold a story about the fact he was going to propose. I always wonder, did that story pay for the ring?"
Jodie and Simon, 48, have been engaged for ten years but there are no plans to wed any time soon. "We’ve just never got round to it because the work keeps coming in and there’s no time," she told The Sun. "I feel like we’re already married anyway. I couldn’t do without him, though. He’s so supportive and loves the animals as much as I do. Plus, I need someone like him to clean up after me! He’s dead tidy whereas I’m like a Tasmanian devil – a bit like Corrie’s Glenda, who comes in and throws everything everywhere."
Jodie's weight has also been something that has been documented over the years. She won the second series of Living TV’s The Biggest Loser weight loss show in 2006, dropping from a size 26 and over 18st to 9st 9lbs - and bagging £25,000. After the show finished Jodie found herself exercising three hours a day to maintain her slimmer figure.
"I found it hard to keep weight off, and it’s never helped that I am partial to a cheeseboard and a bottle of Prosecco. The main thing now is that I do enjoy myself and refuse to beat myself up about my weight," she said. "Size 10-12 just wasn’t sustainable. Besides, I’d gotten too skinny. I was happy to regain a couple of stone and get some curves back."
But after meeting Simon and following the loss of her dad, Jodie weight once again became a sticking point. "I was drinking too much and eating whatever rubbish we could find at daft o’clock in the morning, whether it was steak and chips in a posh cafe or a burger from a takeaway," she previously admitted.
And ahead of her Corrie debut, Jodie admitted: "My weight has been up and down like a bride’s nightie. Sometimes I’m all right with it and other times I’m not," she told The Sun. But I always think, ‘God, I wish I was as big as I was the first time I thought I was big, you know?’.
"And that just goes to show that you’ve got to enjoy life while you can and for what it is. So, I enjoy exercising but I also enjoy going out and having fun with my friends. I bought a Peloton bike a while back but it’s actually hanging up my dressing gown as we speak. Life’s too short, isn’t it?"
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