She's battered a Battersby, been pelted by a Platt and at times life as TV’s Eileen has been Grim... sure.
But soap star Sue Cleaver – today marking 20 years in Coronation Street – wouldn’t have it any other way.
For through her character’s ups and downs, it really has been a belting couple of decades for one of Britain’s favourite actresses.
It all began back on May 3, 2000, when Eileen Grimshaw arrived as switchboard operator at taxi firm Street Cars.
Sue was so keen on landing the role she went the extra mile by doing her own research.
She explains: “I thought about taxi firms I used and how they answered the phone and the flat voice they used.
“I have to admit I made a few fake calls where I didn’t need a taxi, just to talk to the operator.
“Then I’d ring back and say: ‘Oh, I’m so sorry, I’ve got to cancel that cab.’ I’m amazed I'm not blacklisted around Manchester’s cab firms really.”
The research paid off and after a three-month contract, Eileen grew into one of Weatherfield’s most popular faces.
There have been romances aplenty and bust-ups galore.
Eileen has been pinned to the cobbles by her nemesis Gail Platt and pelted with bottles – also by Gail.
But nothing could have quite prepared her for the day she was knocked out for real in Eileen’s kitchen in 2012.
With Sue was Judy Holt, who played Lesley – wife of Eileen’s firefighter boyfriend Paul Kershaw, played by Tony Hirst.
Sue recalls: “Judy’s character had Alzheimer’s. She punched me, misjudged it and I got knocked out cold on the floor.
“I had to visit the hospital to get checked out – she was mortified. When it went out on screen they used the real sound from the punch on the show.”
Sue’s most gripping scenes came with Connor McIntyre, her TV serial killer husband Pat Phelan.
They fought in the freezing cold on a Cumbrian harbour wall in 2018. Sue says: “We filmed for a week until 4am and the weather was brutal – horizontal rain, sleet and hail. I got scabs on my face from being cut from the hail.”
Eileen, who also faced heartache as mum to the Street’s Jason and Todd, is now part of the Corrie furniture.
Sue goes on: "I originally said I’d stay about a year, but the place is so seductive. Everybody knows an Eileen. She’s every woman, she’s down to earth, level-headed and loyal.
"She’s a great friend, but cr*p at everything else.”
With filming suspended, Sue is trialling a new hair colour – pink. “It’s semi-permanent, so I’ve nothing to lose,” she says. “My grey roots were down to my ears!”
She has also been “visiting” Dan’s Bar – the online pub set up by Daniel Brocklebank, who plays Corrie vicar Billy Mayhew.
“We’re all close, so we meet up in the bar,” says Sue. “It keeps us going. Apart from that, like the rest of the world, I’ve been drinking too much wine – terrible!”
Sue lives in Manchester with electrician husband Brian Owen – who works on the Corrie set in Trafford – and her son Elliot, 24, from a previous marriage.
It’s just a short hop from the studios. So don’t cancel that taxi!
