Corrie's Sue Cleaver on what really happens behind the scenes - from knock-out punch to straddling

Sue Cleaver has spent astir 25 years arsenic Coronation Street’s straight-talking Eileen Grimshaw.

After making her sanction successful TV hits specified arsenic a Band of Gold and Dinnerladies, she joined the Weatherfield soap successful 2000 and rapidly became a favourite amongst viewers and the cast, including onscreen lad Ryan Thomas and cheeky pal Simon Gregson.

Now successful Day Two of the the Mirror ’s exclusive serialisation of her caller memoir A Work successful Progress, Sue, 61, reveals immoderate of the antics and dramas distant from the Corrie cameras - and however they are often conscionable arsenic entertaining arsenic the enactment that viewers spot connected screen.

'Some of my champion lunchtime snoozes person been connected a well-known character’s bed'

When the formed got unneurotic for the 21st day celebrations of histrion Ryan Thomas, Sue planned to person conscionable a mates of drinks and past caput home.

The 2 were adjacent – Ryan played her surface lad Jason for 16 years – but knowing she had an aboriginal commencement connected the cobbles the adjacent time Sue had vowed to beryllium sensible. Until....she ended up sneaking into the studios drunk.

“I ended up partying overmuch harder than I intended to – contempt knowing I had a precise aboriginal start,” Sue confesses.

“Someone said to me: ‘Sue, don’t spell home, this is what we do.’ It made full consciousness to maine to caput consecutive from the enactment to the studios adjacent and sneak into my dressing country and slumber until my make-up call.

“Thankfully, nary 1 was immoderate the wiser and I decidedly wasn’t the lone idiosyncratic to bash this implicit the years.

“I admit excessively that immoderate of my champion lunchtime snoozes person been connected a well-known character’s bed!

“I don’t bash that truthful overmuch now, but sometimes if we’re filming successful the Grimshaws and it’s lunchtime, I’ll conscionable enactment determination and person a kip connected the sofa.”

'I dropped similar a chromatic erstwhile co-star punched maine for real'

After a 4th of a period connected the cobbles, Sue’s been done a lot, but thing could person rather prepared her for the time that she was knocked retired for real, aft being punched successful the look erstwhile a surface combat failed to spell according to plan.

The mishap happened successful 2012 arsenic Sue filmed wrong Eileen’s kitchen, with Judy Holt, who played Lesley, the woman of Eileen’s firefighter fellow Paul Kershaw.

Sue recalls: “We had a stunt advisor and had spent immoderate clip practising our manoeuvres but unluckily during a instrumentality Judy got a spot carried distant and an upward punch made interaction with my face.

“I don’t retrieve thing other but seemingly I dropped similar a stone, retired cold.”

Sue was rushed to infirmary for a scan earlier receiving the all-clear to instrumentality to work. She adds: “They utilized the dependable of the existent punch, truthful it wasn’t each for nothing!”

Helen sat astride maine and I said: 'What a anserine mode to wage the mortgage'

While Sue and histrion Helen Worth are adjacent friends, their characters Eileen Grimshaw and Gail Platt person long-been arch enemies and the cobbles has witnessed galore a combat betwixt the duo.

The astir celebrated successful 2004 saw Gail, who leaves astatine the extremity of this year, straddling Eileen connected the cobbles clad successful a bluish dressing gown.

“We had to deterioration kneepads and elbow pads – it was rather physical. It took hours and hours to film,” Sue recalls.

“At 1 constituent I was lying connected the cobbles which were soaking bedewed and she sat astride maine and we looked astatine each different and I said: ‘What a f*****g anserine mode to wage the mortgage.’ We some got the giggles.

“I’ll miss Helen erstwhile she leaves. I’m conscionable hoping there’ll beryllium different Eileen and Gail combat earlier she goes!”

'I swiped nutrient from the Corner Shop erstwhile I couldn’t beryllium bothered to store for dinner'

When she was filming precocious connected the cobbles and had tally retired of nutrient astatine home, Sue would occasionally nip into the Coronation Street country shop.

The mum-of-one confesses: “There was the unusual juncture (only the precise unusual one, mind) erstwhile the Corner Shop connected acceptable would beryllium the spot to halt by if we’d been filming precocious and I knew determination was thing astatine location for dinner.

“A jar of Bolognese condiment lone a period retired of date, was worthy the risk. To beryllium fair, it ne'er killed me.

“Nor did the information that backmost successful the time we utilized to fume successful the Rovers. Forget wellness and safety! The haze of fume lone added to the ambiance of a existent boozer!

“We had Bass shandy connected tap, though astatine 1 constituent it had been an existent beer, which was astir apt stopped for evident reasons.

“Often during the summer, we volition brushwood a swarm of fruit flies attracted by the sweetness of the shandy. It’s not uncommon to spot the barroom unit swiping a beverage towel with gusto astir the pumps.”

'Simon Gregson and I wrote each different shocking concealed notes'

Cobbles joker Simon Gregson (Steve McDonald) regularly made Sue laughter during filming by scribbling rude messages and drawings successful a publication connected the set, that Eileen would often leafage done during a scene.

She recalls: “It was a concealed publication connected the acceptable that was expected to beryllium portion of the acceptable dressing.

“For years we would constitute shocking notes successful it to 1 different – determination was everything imaginable successful determination – tons of pictures and small messages to marque each different laugh.

“I would often travel crossed a ridiculous representation of myself ‘by Simon aged 7’ portion I was mid-sentence during a instrumentality and inevitably extremity up corpsing and having to bash a re-take.

“We had to halt doing it, the times are antithetic now, but we reminisce astir it a lot.”

'My lad banned maine from his parents’ evening due to the fact that I was connected TV!'

When Sue’s lad Elliott was little, helium begged her not to spell to schoolhouse parents’ evenings due to the fact that of her Cobbles’ fame.

“He didn’t privation radical to spot me,” Sue recalls. “His hormones were each implicit the spot and the past happening helium needed was his parent sticking retired similar a sore thumb. I knew I had to spell with it, adjacent if it did sometimes wounded my feelings.”

Elliott is present 28, but Sue admits that contempt their closeness helium whitethorn not get circular to speechmaking her caller memoir.

“I said to him: ‘listen love, if you can’t beryllium arsed speechmaking it, I’ll get you the audio book, oregon I’ll conscionable people up the pages wherever you’re mentioned’,” she says.

“He’s truly arrogant of me, but he’s got a steadfast cognition to my career. I’m conscionable his mum. He ne'er watched Corrie due to the fact that The Simpsons were on.”

• A Work In Progress by Sue Cleaver is published successful hardback by Bloomsbury Publishing connected Thursday Sept 26, £20