The son of Coronation Street legend Eileen Derbyshire has shared an update about his mum, revealing that she’s in a home for retired actors.
Eileen, 94, won hearts all across the nation as god-fearing Emily Bishop on the ITV soap, a role she played for five decades between 1961 and 2016.
Originally known as Mrs Nugent, Emily made her Corrie debut in the serial’s fourth episode, though Eileen did not herself take over the role until the 11th offering.
The character would go on to become one of the Street’s most legendary, featuring in numerous storylines over the years, from finding love with Ernie Bishop (Stephen Hancock) to discovering that second husband Arnold Swain (George Waring) was a bigamist.
In later years, her scenes and stories with much-loved Corner Shop duo Rita Tanner (Barbara Knox) and Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden) often made for great comedic capers.
Eileen departed the cobbles in 2016, which was reported as an ‘extended break’, with Emily subsequently written out.
The actress reprised her role for a one-off appearance via video call in 2019 to speak to Ken Barlow (William Roache) from her new home in Edinburgh, which marked her final appearance on the show.
Eileen’s son Oliver, who is a sports journalist, often updates fans on his mum, revealing last year that she ‘has a few issues but is well looked after’ and is ‘happy’.
On Tuesday (September 1), he took to X to offer Corrie fans the chance to own some cobbles memorabilia, which he found while clearing out his mum’s collage.
‘They’re nothing fancy but if anyone would like a page or two for a memento, I’d be happy to mail a few out. No charge, obviously,’ he wrote.
The post prompted discussion about Eileen and her legendary work as Emily, with her co-star Charlie Condou – who played Marcus Dent on the ITV soap – telling Oliver that Eileen is ‘the most incredible woman’.
Oliver responded with: ‘That’s really kind of you, Charlie. You’ve always been incredibly generous about her and she felt – and feels – the same about you. She’s going to be 95 next month. She’s in a lovely home for retired actresses and actors’.
Emily, meanwhile, was mentioned onscreen earlier this year. Rita revealed that Emily sends her spiritual pictures via text everyday, and she’d prefer not to receive them all the time.
Brian advised replying to Emily with a disappointing affirmation, but Rita wasn’t keen on the prospect of hurting her mate if she didn’t understand that she was just joking.
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