Corrie’s Tisha Merry forced to stand outside studios on first day as security refused to believe she was soap star

CORONATION Street star Tisha Merry was made to wait for an hour outside the soap’s famous studios on her very first day – because no-one believed she’d got the job.

Tisha, 27, played Steph Britton in the hit ITV soap for five years before leaving in 2018 when her character left to live in Portugal following the murder of her on-screen brother Luke at the hands of twisted killer Pat Phelan.

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Speaking about her journey onto the famous cobbles, Steph said: “Mine really is the best story!

“My old agent was like, I’ve got you an audition for Corrie, I was like ok, I turned up, it was at the old studios and everyone was in their late to mid-30s.

“I was like what’s going on? So I went to find out and they said oh sorry Tisha you’re not on the list, there must’ve been a mix up, but don’t go until someone sees you.

“One of the assistant casting directors came out, I read my piece and they were like great, you’ve done really good, obviously I knew I wasn’t getting the part.

“Then a year later I got a call saying we’ve got a part better suited to you, do you want to come in?

“I auditioned, got the part, turned up on my first day and they were like, no. Everyone was in the green room you’ve got Gail, Alan, everyone.

“They were like sorry no you’re not here to play Steph, I was, no I am and I had to wait outside for an hour before anyone would let me in.

“No one believed I was playing the part! I was like I’m cursed, this role isn’t for me! I didn’t actually have a proper audition I just blagged my way onto Corrie.”

A year after she left Corrie Tisha got together with her former co-star Alan Halsall, 38, who plays Tyrone Dobbs, and the loved-up couple now live together.

Speaking on Mecca Bingo’s Live From Studio M, she also admitted that she’d love to go back one day.

She said: “I wouldn’t say no. I absolutely loved Corrie, it’s the highlight of my entire working career and I loved every minute of it.

“I just wanted a little break to audition see more things so more things and I would never ever say no to Corrie.

“You’d love to see yourself back there in year to come it was an amazing place to work.

“If you had a week or two weeks off and you had to come back you’d be so nervous. Even though everyone was so close, so happy and lovely. It was scary.

“The Rovers is the biggie when you’re in there and there’s a lot of cast, all the legends who know every single line, I remember being in a scene with Alan and if you dropped a line he’d be onto it.

“They’re all so professional. You’ve got to keep up with them and it’s hard!”

And on her relationship with Alan she said: “He’s lovely. He’s the best.”