Whittaker: 'Cancer diagnosis was surreal'

Sally Whittaker has admitted that fighting breast cancer at the same time as her Coronation Street character was "completely surreal".

The actress was diagnosed with the illness late last year, just days after hearing that her Weatherfield alter ego Sally Webster would be put through the same ordeal.

In a new interview published today, Whittaker revealed that the shock coincidence meant that a cancer specialist who had been offering advice on her soap scenes suddenly started treating her.

She told The Sun: "It was like something from a dream, completely surreal. One moment I was talking to the consultant about how my character would cope with cancer - the next thing we're having the conversation about me.

"I didn't think it could be me he was talking about. I thought, 'I've been doing scenes about Sally Webster's breast cancer all day and now I come here and you're telling me I've got it?' I couldn't take it in and I just collapsed."

Whittaker's doctor Lester Barr confirmed: "I'd been helping the writers with Sally's scripts so I just couldn't believe it, I really couldn't. It goes to show that true life can be stranger than fiction."

The soap star is now in recovery following her final session of radiotherapy. She is also said to be ready to return to work.