‘I prefer animals to glamour & glitz!’
After years of starring roles in the theatre, Jodie Prenger landed her dream job at Corrieplaying barmaid Glenda Shuttleworth – but away from the cobbles, she admits she’s never happier than in her wellies, cleaning out her chickens…
She found fame playing Nancy in Oliver!after being discovered on the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything, and now lives in Lancashire with her fiancé Simon Booth and their menagerie of animals. Funny, frank and utterly down-to-earth, Jodie Prenger, 44, shares her thoughts on everything from meeting the Queen to a secret desire to open her own zoo…
Jodie, do you love the glamour of showbiz?
It’s a funny thing. My character Glenda is always done up, and recently I appeared in theatre in Gypsy. It was phenomenal – I’d always wanted to do it – but then the next day, I’m there in my wellies, with my hair scraped back, no make-up and cleaning out the chickens. That’s life to me. It’s not the glamour and the glitz, it’s animals for me and always has been. That’s what makes me happy – I love them to bits.
It sounds like you’re living your best life…
I would have pitched a hundred tents from Argos outside Coronation Street, and camped out waiting if I’d thought I was in with the chance of a job. I’ve genuinely always dreamt of it and then to be given a fun character like Glenda and work in the Rovers – I couldn’t ask for more. If I do ask for more, slap me across the face, because that would just be greedy!
Were there tough times along the way?
I remember during Covid, I was phoned about a production of Dr Dolittle. I thought: ‘Oh lovely – playing the female version of Dr Dolittle.’ I got so excited and then they said they wanted me to play the parrot. I could have cried! I once did a gig at Strangeways and got changed in a prison cell, and I’ve appeared at working men’s clubs where the audience have got their tin foil sandwiches out while I’m singing. But I am so glad I did all that. It makes me really appreciate where I am and how I’ve got here.
How did you feel when you found out you were finally going to get an on-screen romance?
I don’t know who’s more thrilled,Jodie or Glenda! I was happy for Glenda, because she tries, doesn’t she? She’s about to host a speed dating night at the Rovers. You could say slim pickings, but Weatherfield is full of hunks. She’s not had any dalliances since she worked on the cruise ships, so I don’t think her love life is Mills &Boon. It’s more Mills &Doom!
Things go dangerously wrong at the speed dating night though, don’t they?
It’s one of the scariest things I’ve filmed in my entire career. She’s locking up at the end of the night and she realises she’s alone in the pub with two robbers. She’s horrified. The two fellas w
