She first stepped on the cobblestone streets more than two decades ago as Gobby teenager Toyah Battersby.
Now, five years after the iconic character’s revival, actress Georgia Taylor says she’s glad some of the old Battersby bites are making a comeback.
“Toyah has grown up and a very different woman has come back to the streets than the one she left all those years ago,” says Georgia.
“She’s a lot gentler now than it was before – but she’s coming back out, but old Battersby’s lightning bolts give it back.”
Georgia Taylor joined the Coronation Street cast as a teenager in the 1990s
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Television of Granada)
Viewers will be happy to see it too, especially after seeing attorney Imran Habeeb, played by actor Charlie de Melo, admit to playing behind Toyah’s back in a drunken one-night stand this week.
What the love scam didn’t reveal was that he hadn’t told the whole truth – and that the woman he slept with was the grieving mother and Corrie’s favorite ai, Franklin, played by Sally Carman.
“I feel like Toyah has been there for everyone else for the past few years and it is time to stand up for yourself,” said Georgia, 41.
“I’ve been a bit desperate for this reveal to come out – the little Toyah knows anyway – and it looks like she’s finally at the end of her tether.
Georgia is delighted that her character is getting her Battersby Spark back
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ITV)
The Battersby fire is still in. She’ll never be the 16-year-old who went in and wrecked The Cabin again, but I think a bit more Battersby attitude from her is definitely a good thing. “
After signing up for the soap in 1997 at the age of just 17, Georgia was catapulted to star overnight as the youngest member of the recalcitrant Battersby clan before leaving five years later.
For 13 successful years in her absence, she appeared in everything from Life on Mars to Midsomer Murders and had long-term roles on Casualty and Law & Order: UK – so she couldn’t stand a return to the life of a soap star.
“Not at all,” says Georgia, who met actor partner Mark Letheren (50) while at Casualty.
Georgia met her husband Mark Letheren on the set of Casualty
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Broadway.com)
The star turned to her on-screen sister to discuss her Corrie comeback
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PA)
“When my agent told me the call came in, Mark was in New York to work, so the first person I spoke to was Jane Danson.
We’ve been best friends since we started dating Toyah and Leanne, so I texted Jane the instant I got that call. She was at Center Parcs with her family, bless them, but she was great and after talking to her and doing the whole thing on Skype with Mark I said yes. “
“And I’m so glad I did that. It’s amazing to be back and working with Jane has been great. We shoot scenes together all day and then we come home and talk on the phone. She’s just the best person in the world. “
Georgia is now nearing the five-year mark on the road – almost as long as she first spent at Weatherfield – Georgia announces that she recently signed up for another year on the show.
Georgia will continue to be a Corrie regular for the foreseeable future
“I feel like there is still a lot to do with the character and I’m very happy to be sticking with it,” says the star, who grew up in Wigan.
“The first five and a half years felt like a lifetime. It was huge. It was my first job, pretty much right after school, and it shaped my life so much.
It’s a strange thing to look back on at myself in the beginning and I can’t believe how much we left it all, Jane and I, considering how young we were and how famous we got so quickly.
“I don’t know if I could do it now if it suddenly happened to me too, because in some ways I’m more introverted as an adult than as a teenager.
As a Corrie regular for many years, Georgia has been a household name since her youth
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ITV / Shutterstock)
Over the years, the actress has been involved in several dramatic storylines
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Television of Granada)
“It’s that feeling of going into a mall and having the feeling that everyone is looking at you. When I was 17, I thought it was a novelty. It didn’t bother me at all, and when people wanted me to sign their magazine or whatever, that was fine. But back then there was no social media and no camera phones. Today it’s different. “
And while many soap stars are used to answering the names of their alter egos on screen when they’re out and about, she reveals that for actress Georgia – who grew up as Claire Jackson – things are one step harder for her are.
“I didn’t plan that,” she laughs. “But when I started Coronation Street, I had to register with Equity, the actors union, and at the time there seemed to be a hell of a lot of Claires so I had to think of something else.”
“I couldn’t tell you where I got Georgia from except that I liked it, but my grandfather’s last name was Taylor and he died right before I got the role.
As a teenager, I didn’t really think through the ramifications of a completely different name choice, but that has resulted in some confusion over the years. At this point, I’ll answer pretty much everything! “
Still Claire in her passport and her mother, Caroline Jackson, the actress reveals that about half of Corrie’s cast and crew call her Claire, while the rest of them know her as Georgia.
“When I first started on Corrie, I was basically still Claire,” says Georgia.
“It was a couple of weeks before I could change my name when I was Claire Jackson, even though I was credited with Georgia Taylor. When I left in 2003, I went out into the world.” as a working actress, and everyone called me Georgia.
“That has been the case for years, and some of my very best friends call me Georgia.
The star first introduced herself to husband Mark by her stage name
I met Mark as Georgia. But back to Coronation Street five years ago and there were still tons of cast and crew who had previously known me as Claire, so I was with Claire for them again while the people I didn’t know before called me Georgia .
It’s pretty fun when I introduce myself to people. Everyone who knows me from Corrie thinks of me as Toyah, and then I say, ‘I’m Georgia, but I’m Claire too, so really call me what you want’. “
The on-screen sisters have some tense scenes ahead of them
With many twists and turns for Toyah to go, Georgia is excited to see what happens next to the character. And the drama will take a notch next week when viewers see both Battersby sisters battle for their lives as evil drug gangster Harvey Gaskell escapes from prison and returns to the streets in revenge.
“Harvey is looking for both Leanne and Toyah,” reveals Georgia.
“Leanne put him behind bars and Toyah screwed up his roll call. He blames her for his downfall and wants to repay it. “
We hope to see more of this famous Battersy fire.
Check out Coronation Street Super Soap Week Monday, Wednesday, Friday next week
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