As Coronation Street viewers watch brave Alma Halliwell come to terms with terminal illness, it’s a comfort to know that the woman who plays her – the equally feisty Amanda Barrie - is looking forward to a wonderful life that Weatherfield folk can only dream of. She will henceforth divide her time between her stylish flat in London’s theatreland and her luxury penthouse on Spain’s Costa Blanca.

Unlike many Street actors who have been shocked to find themselves written out of the show, it was very much Amanda’s decision to leave. “I don’t think soaps nowadays are written for older people,” she says, “I’m not young enough to keep having romances, for a start! And there are all those challenges I’ve avoided, which I’d like to have the opportunity to take on now.”

Amanda was particularly anxious about Alma’s controversial cervical cancer exit storyline because, 15 years ago, she had her own cancer scare, followed by a hysterectomy. She has been well ever since – her problem was, it turned out, gynaecological – but she says: “I remember waiting for my results. I really was afraid that I had cancer and some tests came back borderline. I was in a cold sweat all the time. My strongest feeling about what has happened to Alma is that if one woman stayed away from her doctor because of anything she’s seen in the show then that would be unforgivable.”

For more on Amanda Barrie, her real-life health dramas and her plans for the future, see this week’s HELLO! Magazine, on sale now.