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The newly appointed Rovers Return owner Jenny Connor (played by Sally An Matthews) first made her Coronation Street debut back in January 1986. Since then, fans of the ITV soap have seen the bubbly hopeless romantic involved in some of the show’s best storylines.
More recently, she almost fell victim to her boyfriend and Weatherfield serial killer Stephen Reid (Todd Boyce) who held her hostage in a desperate bid to escape. Although she walked away unscathed, it’s safe to say Jenny’s been unlucky in love.
Before then she was bid to marry Leo Thompkins (Joe Frost) who was murdered by Stephen after he threw him off a balcony. Her beau before Leo, husband Johnny Connor (Richard Hawley) died saving Jenny during a dramatic sinkhole disaster.
Despite all her love interests dying, Jenny has remained a key character on the cobbles and has close friendships with Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) and Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan). Although she’s starting to clash with Daisy over their new business venture.
Actress Sally Ann Matthews lives a much quieter life than her on-screen role. As the star has been in the soap for 38 years, Express.co.uk has decided to take a look at Sally’s life when the cameras stop rolling.
Secret wedding ceremony
In 1999, Sally married senior barrister and judge Nicholas Rhodes, who she shares two sons with.
Although the 53-year-old confessed to Kate Thornton on White Wine Question Time that initially, she never wanted to get married.
The soap star admitted that for her, having a child was a bigger commitment than tying the knot so they had a family instead.
She said: “Then as soon as James was born, I kind of went: ‘Oh I want the same name as everybody else’.
“So all right, ‘I’ll marry you now but I don’t want a fuss and you’re rubbish at remembering dates. So we’ll get married on my birthday at James’s christening’”.
Sally shared that they had the christening for their son and then the reception, where she slipped away to put on her wedding dress.
Shocking all of their family and friends, the soap star admitted the only people who knew what was happening were her husband, their two best friends, her two girlfriends, the bridesmaids and the band leader.
Sally often posts photos of her family on Instagram with her son recently graduating from university.
Health battle
Sally has opened up in the past about how one TV critic’s comments about her during her early days on-screen had a damaging effect on her self-esteem.
At the time in Coronation Street, Sally was engaged to French law student Patrice Podevin (Franck Dubosc).
The critic wrote at the time “What would a handsome Frenchman boy like Patrice see in a little pudding like Jenny Bradley?”
Sadly, this triggered a serious eating disorder for the soap star who admitted to suffering from active bulimia for eight months before recovery.
Speaking on the new set in Salford back in 2015, Sally touched on how she now deals with trolls on social media.
The actress said: “Twitter can be a brilliant place, I love it. It’s also b****y awful. People always have opinions and are happy to share them, and a lot of people don’t think. So it will be horrible.
“Yet now I am more comfortable with who I am. I am older and thicker skinned, so if people say horrible things about me, sod them.”
Soap star cousin
It looks as though acting runs in the family for Sally as one of her fellow Coronation Street colleagues is her cousin.
Sally discovered that actress Amanda Barrie, who fans will remember as Alma Baldwin in the soap, was related to her in a special documentary.
Titled Coronation Street’s DNA Secrets, the 2018 one-off special saw some of the cast members use Ancestry.com to see who their distant family members were.
Speaking about the revelation to Radio Times at the time, Sally said: “Waiting for my Corrie cousin to come around the corner was torture!
“I was praying it was someone I liked! The joy when I saw it was Amanda was overwhelming and I thought, ‘Well, of course it is, that all makes sense now’.”
Although the duo rarely had scenes together, with Amanda leaving in 2001, Sally stated they knew each other well due to being in the rehearsal room together.
She continued: “I think we share a naughty, slightly bonkers streak. And the fact the gift of a jug that Amanda gave me when I was 18 has been on every kitchen shelf I’ve ever had – and was one of my most treasured possessions even before I knew – clearly means something.”
Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV from 8pm
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Source: NewsFinale
