Sarah Harding has said that her appearance on Coronation Street was a "big learning curve". The Girls Aloud singer received mixed reviews for her four-episode stint as character Joni Preston, but she insists she doesn't pay attention to any criticism and enjoyed her time on the soap.
"I try not to pay any attention to that. If you're going in as a known face, you're always going to get flak," she explained on This Morning. "If anything, I turn all of that into a positive energy. It just makes me more determined. I enjoyed it – it's off my bucket list now."
© Photo: RexSarah Harding said appearing on Coronation Street was a "big learning curve"
Sarah reiterated that she was only ever cast for four episodes and was never expecting a long-term role on the show.
"I've done films before, but I've never done soaps before. I was only ever asked to do four episodes and I had the time to do it while I was waiting for my track to be finished," she said. "It made me happy anyway, never mind what anyone else thought! Everyone's going to have an opinion at the end of the day.
"You can't please everyone but I had a laugh doing it. Everyone was so lovely to me and I enjoyed my time there and now I'm moving on."
© Photo: ITVThe actress played Joni Preston in the ITV soap
Despite admitting that she did find it challenging appearing on Coronation Street, Sarah also confided that she hasn't been put off appearing in another soap.
"Not at all. It's actually a lot harder doing soaps, I did realise that. It was a big learning curve, because it is such a big turnaround – you don't get very long to learn your scripts."
Sarah made her Coronation Street debut in July, and was reported to have been axed from the soap on Thursday, however a spokesperson confirmed: "Sarah was only contracted for a four episode cameo role. There are no plans for the character of Joni to return."
