Yahoo News Coronation Street's Lisa George speaks out after Beth's final scenes
Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Lisa George has spoken out following her final scenes airing as Beth Tinker in Coronation Street.
Friday's episode (August 30) saw Beth make a sad exit from Weatherfield under the threat of blackmail from crooked copper Kit Green.
Earlier in the week, Kit warned Beth to drop her evidence against him and leave Weatherfield, or he'd ruin her son Craig Tinker's policing career. Kit had found out that Craig once covered up Faye's hit-and-run and was prepared to use it against him.
Following the transmission of her final scenes on Friday, Lisa George explained Beth was trying to do the right thing by protecting Craig's career.
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"She didn't want to go, she didn't want to leave, but she'd been obviously caught up with the business with Kit, and she thought she had one over on him," the star clarifed. "She didn't know about Craig telling Kit some of his secrets and she hadn't bargained with Kit realising that if he got something on Craig, it would cancel out what Beth had on him.
"She didn't have a clue about that. So she thought she'd got the Joker, and then obviously it backfired on her. As you know, Craig is her life and she wasn't prepared to see his life ruined. So she felt it was the best thing for her to go, but not tell anyone the truth."
The surprise exit was doubly hard on Beth because she had to turn down Kirk's marriage proposal to prevent Kit from threatening him.
"It was so hard and it was sad. I was really sad filming it myself because it was gorgeous, and you see in that scene it was heartbreaking because it was everything that she wanted," Lisa said. "It was awful. She broke his heart, and even when she left, he was saying, I'll change, I'll change whatever you want', believing it was his fault.
"I got a right lump in my throat when we filmed it, because it actually felt really real when she said, ‘You know, you haven't done anything wrong. You don't need to change. You're always perfect to me’. That was really hard. It was really sad."
Lisa also reflected on some of the more memorable behind-the-scenes moments from filming her exit scenes.
"Unusually, Beth’s departure was my final scene of filming, often we film out of order, but as I filmed it," she explained. "I knew Beth was leaving and it was my final scene on the cobbles. Halfway through when he called the cab to stop, and they got out, I actually got really, quite tearful. I cried afterwards because it's been this huge part of my life for such a long time."
She went on: "I've been on Corrie a long time but you know what? It's flown. It's really difficult to comprehend how many years I've been here because it hasn't computed at all. But that's what it's like here, because you're in a different world – Weatherfield world, and it's completely different to the real world. You get so engrossed in this world and it is timeless.
"It feels like you've only been here a year or two years or something. When you think about people doing 25 years or over 50 years, you can easily see how that can happen."
Lisa also offered some insight into Beth's unforgettable wardrobe choices over the years, which she had a hand in picking out.
"I did want her to have an '80s thing going on at the beginning, and it got stronger and stronger over the years," she recalled. "And then the hairstyle was based on people I knew, I just remember girls from youth theatre – they were all like, really cool, and they had all the long hair with their hair up in a pineapple, so I sort of took that from that. By now she is far too past it at her age to be dressing that way. But that was the point, I wanted her to dress like a spring chicken."
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The actor went on: "She thought she was a spring chicken, but she was a bit mutton, dressed as lamb, and that's how I wanted her. I purposely made her like that, and made her dress young, because she hasn't grown up. People said oh she is an '80s throwback but that is because I purposely made her an '80s throwback.
"People got it in the end. Originally, the producers wanted her wardrobe to have a '50s feel, but that's me. That would have been Lisa and I wanted Beth to be different from me so that is how she developed."
Looking back over her 13 years on the cobbles, Lisa joyfully recalled the wonderful scenes she shared with Andy Whyment, who plays Beth's loveable partner Kirk Sutherland.
"Do you know what? When they first suggested [Kirk and Beth], I thought, what are you thinking?" she admitted. "Andy's like, 12 years younger than me or something so I never would have put them together, and I didn't think it was going to work, but it did. I think it was a surprise to me and Andy, but it just worked.
"And the characters were just perfect for each other. Kirky was absolutely perfect. And even to my last days here, I still called him Kirky, even though in the script it says Kirk, I always changed it to ‘our Kirk’ or 'Kirky' because that's just more personal. Andy and I worked brilliantly together. We've never had a crossword in 13 years ever. And it was really sad to say goodbye. I think he was upset too."
Lisa also got to watch co-star Colson Smith grow up over the 13 years he played Beth's son Craig Tinker.
"I tried to take him under my wing a bit when he was younger but we became friends as he got older and we had a lovely heart-to-heart before I left," she remembered. "Beth is leaving a lot behind and I am too but Beth is looking to the future and so am I."
As for what's next in her career, Lisa revealed: "I am doing panto, Cinderella at the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon, which I am really looking forward to.
"Music is a big part of my life, so I have been talking to a few musicians as I have missed singing and I have always said I would love to do period dramas, I am just waiting to see where the future takes me."
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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