William ‘Bill’ Roache playing Ken Barlow in Coronation Street(Image: ITV)
Coronation Street legend William ‘Bill’ Roache has revealed the time he didn’t speak to one of his co-stars for two years after a disagreement about a scene.

The actor is famed for playing Weatherfield’s Ken Barlow, having made his debut in the very first episode of the ITV soap back in December 1960.

The 93-year-old recently took part in a big first for the long-running show, as a number of Corrie stars hit the road to reveal secrets from their time on the cobbles in their very first live show.

An Audience with Coronation Street was a sell-out in Salford, just a stones throw from the Corrie set, as a number of familiar faces took to The Lowry theatre stage alongside host, This Morning’s ‘Queen of Soaps’, Sharon Marshall.

Bill took on the ‘legend’ slot on Saturday night (September 20) following Barbara Knox’s earlier appearance at the matinee show, where she led her co-stars and the audience in a sing-along.

But it was during his chat that Bill – who holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-serving soap star – also revealed he temporarily fell out with the late Pat Phoenix.

The actress played Elsie Tanner in Coronation Street from 1960 until 1984 and their fallout was sparked because he refused to let her throw an ashtray at him in a scene.

Pat Phoenix (left) playing Elsie Tanner in Corrie(Image: Granada Television)
“Once I had a scene where she said something unkind to Val [Valerie Barlow, played by Anne Reid], my wife,” he said. Bill explained that he was excited for the scene, as he was able to stand up to the strong character – but his co-star wanted to change things.

“In this scene I told her off and when it came to the rehearsal she said to the director, ‘I don’t think she’d take this from this young man’. She wanted to do something at the end and said to me, ‘Can you pause with all these things you say at the end and I am going to threaten to throw this ashtray at you’…

“I said ‘No Pat I won’t’. I said ‘As far as I am concerned it is unprofessional’ and we did not talk for two years.”

But they eventually became great friends again thanks to a party invite. Bill explained: “Two years later we were waiting to go in for a scene and it was her birthday coming up.

“She was throwing a party and she said ‘Oh well, I suppose you better come to my party if you want to’. I said, ‘I would love to, Pat’ and we became really great friends.”