The theatre producer and Everton football club chairman, who last played Driver's on-screen son Gordon Clegg in the soap in 1995, said that he promised her that he would never come back to work there but has now decided to return.
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© ITV/Rex Features
Kenwright told The Sun that he visited Driver shortly before she died in hospital in October, aged 91. He said: "She was a star till the end. I went to visit her in hospital. She was in and out of consciousness.
"I whispered that if she knew it was me to squeeze my hand, and she did. I told her I'd only return to the Street if she were there, upon which she raised herself up and whispered that I dared not go back without her!"
Kenwright, who paid tribute at Driver's real-life funeral describing her as his "second mother", will make his one-off comeback for the funeral of Driver's character Betty Williams in a special Coronation Street episode next month.
The show's producer Phil Collinson recently teased that there will be a "revelation" about Betty in her funeral episode, saying: "It's a secret that Betty has taken to the grave with her and I can promise you that fans will be surprised."
> 'Coronation Street': More Betty send-off details revealed
> 'Coronation Street' Jennie McAlpine: 'I'm glad I knew Betty Driver'
> Read more 'Coronation Street' spoilers and news
Browse through a gallery of Betty Driver's life in pictures below:
