Axed Coronation Street star Katie Redford lands new role in Keeping Up Appearances prequel


April 12, 2016

Katie Redford is set to join the cast of Young Hyacinth, the new series and prequel to Keeping Up Appearances. The actress was famously dropped from her role in Coronation Street last year, after she lied about her age.

Katie, 27, has now landed a role in Young Hyacinth, in which she will play Hyacinth Bucket's sister Rose. She took to Twitter to write: "Very excited about being a part of this."

The series, which is set 40 years before Keeping Up Appearances, follows the story of a 19-year-old Hyacinth, who will be played by Kerry Howard. It is expected to air on BBC later this year.

Katie Redford was dropped from Coronation Street after giving a false age

In January 2015, Katie was axed from Coronation Street after show bosses found out that she had given a false age at her audition.

She was originally cast as 14-year-old Bethany Platt, and hadn't started filming before she was dropped from the soap.

An official press release billed Katie as 19 years old – but fans quickly unearthed evidence suggesting that she was actually 25. A snapshot of her CV also surfaced online, listing Katie's date of birth as 2 March 1989.

The actress will play Hyacinth Bucket's sister Rose in Young Hyacinth

Shortly after the discrepancy was noted, Coronation Street confirmed that they would be investigating the matter and a few days later they announced that they would recast the part. Lucy Fallon ended up taking the role.

At the time, Katie's agency admitted that the fault lay with them, as they had persuaded the budding actress to say that she was only 19. Her agent Jo McLintock added that the Coronation Street role never felt right for Katie in the first place.

"She realises a soap is not for her," Jo told Daily Mirror. "She's not interested in soaps any more. She said it felt wrong, even when she got it. She's definitely not going to give up her career, she's too talented."

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