Bill Roache: 'I never want to leave Corrie'

Coronation Street star Bill Roache has confessed that he never wants to leave the long-running soap.

The actor, who has played Ken Barlow since the very first episode in 1960, admitted that he won't be retiring and wants to continue working on the soap until he dies.

"I won't be retiring," he told The People. "I have ­absolutely no plans to do so. Working on Coronation Street is like a dream come true for me. I'll never want to leave. I'd like to think that I will keep ­appearing on Coronation Street for the rest of my life, until I die.

"The show's been going for 50 years and I'd love to do it for another 50. I couldn't leave Deirdre on her own, I love the bickering with her. [Anne Kirkbride and I] have worked together for such a long time now and I adore working with her, it is a joy.

"I don't think that Deirdre and Ken will ever split up, that in itself is a good enough reason for me to stay. Ken and Deirdre are a national ­institution, they have been through so much so I couldn't allow myself to be responsible for ending that, could I?"