Sally Dynevor has said she misses filming Coronation Street and being around the cast and crew while the show is on hiatus.
The ITV soap suspended filming last week amid the coronavirus pandemic, along with other serial dramas including Emmerdale, and the BBC’s EastEnders.
Dynevor, who plays Sally Metcalfe in the programme, said it is “strange” not learning lines for the first time in years and having the time to “read loads of books”.
She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain with Lorraine Kelly that she does not know of any cases of Covid-19 among the cast or the crew, and that they are still in touch all the time.
“We are in touch with each other, we’re on a WhatsApp group, a girls’ WhatsApp group, which is really good because we all tell each other what we’re up to, what to watch, what exercise things to do, it’s really good fun and it’s nice to keep in touch,” she said.
“I watched the Street the other night and I really miss everybody, it’s so weird, I’m so used to going into work and seeing everyone, and then to not, it’s strange.”
She added: “I think every family will probably look back on this time and go ‘Actually that was a really good bonding time’, and I think we have to try and appreciate that, hopefully in some ways, we won’t ever get this time again, we should appreciate it and do everything that the NHS wants us to do, stay at home and look after each other.”
Dynveor, 56, said that one of her goals during the lockdown is to “get a compost heap going”, despite not being particularly good at gardening.
She said she needs to “speak to my on-screen sister, Connie Hyde (who played Gina Seddon), who is a fabulous gardener, so I need a few tips from her.”
#WeAllWorkForTheNHS Stay home. That’s your job. Feel lucky that you’re doing your job somewhere safe. Our #NHSHeroes are doing theirs on the frontline. #WeAllWorkForTheNHS please retweet pic.twitter.com/bjZayFl9tV
— Sally Dynevor (@sallydynevor) March 25, 2020
The soap star said she has been moved by the efforts of people across the country in pulling together to stop the spread of the virus, as well as those who work in the NHS and in supermarkets.
She said last Thursday’s Clap For Carers to recognise NHS workers was “so moving”, and added: “Every time I go to the supermarket as well I look at everybody who is working there and go ‘Oh God, you’re so brilliant’, you just want to hug everybody but you’re not allowed to go anywhere near them.
“I just want to hug everybody because everyone is pulling together and working so hard, it’s just amazing to see community spirit and people signing up for the volunteering.
“The things that are going on, it’s quite incredible.”