OHMYGOSSIP — Gyles Brandreth wants a part in Coronation Street.
The 74-year-old broadcaster – who last year made a return to television as a contestant on ‘All Star Musicals ‘ – revealed that he “loves trying new things” and wants to join the ITV soap as an “old flame” of battle-axe Evelyn Plummer who is played by his friend Maureen Lipman.
He said: “Last year, I appeared on a show called ‘All Star Musicals.’ I can’t sing and I can’t dance but I love trying new things and I haven’t yet been in a TV soap. I could join ‘Coronation Street’ as Maureen Lipman’s old flame who has been away in prison for many years and come back. I told Maureen to try and book me up for it!”
The former politician – who has been married to writer Michèle Brown for almost 50 years and has children Saethryd, Aphraan and Benet with her – recently made appearances on ‘Celebrity Gogglebox’ alongside Maureen, 75 as well as veteran actress Sheila Hancock and admitted that while they were “amazing”, his wife now jokes that both women were given Damehoods by the Queen as a form of compensation for his company.
He told the Metro newspaper’s Sixty Seconds column: “I did [‘Celebrity Gogglebox’] first with Sheila Hancock and then they made her a dame. I then did it with Maureen Lipman and they made her a dame. My wife says the Queen is rewarding them for being locked in my company! Sheila was amazing. Sitting there watching ‘Naked Attraction’ with an 89-year-old was hilarious! And now Maureen comes round to watch the telly even when we’re not filming it!”