Denise Welch has paid tribute to late friend and Coronation Street star Anne Kirkbride as one of her character's most iconic episodes gets repeated on TV.
Anne, who died at the age of 60 in 2015, was known to millions of viewers as Deidre and this week, the long standing Wetherfield resident's most dramatic moment - her 1998 trial and subsequent imprisonment - will be shown once again on ITV3.
The channel air a double bill of classic Corrie ever afternoon and on Friday it is time for viewers to see Deidre wrongly sent down after being double crossed by fraudster and fake airline pilot Jon Lindsay, the man she thought she was was going to marry.
Unfortunately for Deidre, the jury believed John and she was flung behind bars, prompting her iconic line "I didn't do any of it!" as shocked and distraught friends including Mike Baldwin, Liz McDonald and ex Ken Barlow.
Her prison sentence sparked public outcry with the launch of the Free The Wetherfield One campaign with then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, even discussing it in parliament.
Denise was in the Coronation Street cast at the time, playing barmaid and Kevin Webster's 'other woman' Natalie Horrocks and looking back with fond memories as clip of Deidre's trial aired on Thursday's Loose Women, she said: "I feel so privileged to have been there at such an iconic time.
"The Free The Wetherfield One thing...everybody got involved.
"You've got to remember as well, that when I was in it, there was a third of the country watching - 22 million and when I married Des Barnes it was 21 million or something like that."
Paying tribute to Anne, Denise added: "Anne Kirkbride became a great friend; she was one of the funniest women I've ever met - she even took me to get my belly button pierced!"
