Coronation Street casts former Waterloo Road star Vanessa Hehir in new role

 There's a new parishioner in town.

Coronation Street has added a new member to its cast – former Waterloo Road star Vanessa Hehir.

According to The Sun, Hehir will be joining as a member of Billy's parish named Esther Hargrave later on this month as part of her significant guest role on the soap.

She previously starred as a series regular on ITV's Heartbeat between 2001 and 2007, playing Rosie Cartwright.

She is best known for her role as Sue Lowsley in the BBC drama Waterloo Road, in which she starred opposite her real-life husband Leon Ockenden.

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Leon previously starred in Coronation Street in 2016, playing Michelle Connor’s boyfriend in a terrifying role that saw him turn into her stalker.

Starring in Waterloo Road with her real-life husband brought about some challenges as their characters were embroiled in an affair and had to film sex scenes.

"I was sick to the pit of my stomach when we had intimate scenes together," the upcoming Corrie star previously said.

"It just somehow feels different with my actual husband, even a bit weirder than with an actor you don’t know," she added.

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"On the one hand, I was thinking, ‘I hope my child never sees this’, but on the other hand it was kind of fun. And I never thought we’d have the opportunity to work together on a storyline like that. It’s a dream come true."

BBC chief content officer Charlotte Moore recently defended the decision to reboot Waterloo Road.

"I don't think it's depressing, I think it's a challenge. I've just been watching the new Waterloo Road series and I think it's reimagined for the modern day and I think it's going to be great," she said.

"[Reboots have] always been part of television – I think you have to do it judiciously, I think you have to do it with real intent to reinvent it for a new generation, but yeah, I think it's part of what we do."

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV and streams on the ITV Hub.