Coronation Street actress Shelley King has admitted that she has been "hell to live with" while playing out Yasmeen Nazir's abuse storyline.
The soap star, 65, thanked her wife Trilby James, who she said "understands the process" she has had to go through.
Appearing on Lorraine today, Shelley said that she had needed to "visit some dark places" to act out the scenes.
Her character Yasmeen was abused by husband Geoff for years before his death in December last year, but is still continuing to struggle from hallucinations of him.
Opening up about the effect the storyline has had on her, Shelly said: "I've been hell to live with - I mean, poor Trilby! Thank goodness she's a wonderful director and actor and understands the process that we all have to go through.
"And thank god for Ian [Bartholomew], whom I love and I think is one of my dearest friends because we trusted each other and we helped each other so much and we talked about it and we talked through our problems.
"Because we have to visit a lot of dark places just to recreate that mood."
Shelley reiterated that the trust that she and Ian had for one another was so important while acting out the difficult scenes, saying: "You cannot open yourself out in that way unless you trust the person you're working with.
"I miss him dreadfully! I mean, Yasmeen is still being haunted by him. I just wish I could see [Ian] more and the family! His kids and his family. But we can't do anything - but soon we'll be down that motorway having a picnic, I hope, very soon!"
Teasing what the future held for Yasmeen, Shelley admitted she was keen for her character to find happiness.
She said: "We want to see that old bombast! That rivalled Sally and all those other things. We don't know but I'm looking forward to it."
*Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV
