As Coronation Street's Sally Webster, actress Sally Whittaker is the stage mum from hell. In real-life, she's rather her children steered clear of the profession.

CORONATION Street actress Sally Whittaker's children keep telling her, "Oh mum, you're horrible". It should be pointed out that they're talking about the behaviour of her character, Sally Webster, not their real life mum. On screen, Sally's turned into the stage mother from hell, intent on packing off screen daughter Rosie to drama school.

She's not about to let anything get in the way of Rosie going to the Northern Drama Academy - certainly not her growing friendship with boyfriend Craig.

Whittaker can see the error of the soap mum's ways but sympathises with her aspirations. "I hated school and I didn't have any prospects," she admits. "Growing up in Oldham as I did, you either went to drama school or you ended up at the factory making cigarettes. I didn't want to do that and decided on drama school even though all my school mates laughed about it. I just knew I wasn't bright enough or wouldn't have the chance to do something else without at least five A-levels.

"Sally thinks the stage is the only chance Rosie has got. I really thought acting was the only thing I could do. I'm lucky that it paid off."

So far, 40-year-old Sally's had 18 successful years working on the Street. She admits her onscreen character is taking her drama dreams for Rosie a little too far.

"Sally's living her life through her daughter. She doesn't want her working at the knicker factory, living in a two up, two down. She wants something better for her," says Whittaker.

"With programmes like Fame Academy and Pop Idol around, she thinks it's easy. You earn loads of money, meet a nice man and live happily ever after. If she was any good I could I understand, but Rosie's rubbish and she doesn't even want to do it.

"Rosie's just trying to please her mum and the only way for her to get recognition is to do what Sally wants. She's a mum from hell."

Matters take a turn for the worse when stage mum Sally finds out teenage Rosie's been seeing neighbour Craig Harris behind her back and that he's become her first boyfriend.

"If she's seeing Craig, there's no way she's going to concentrate on drama. Sally doesn't want Rosie thinking about boys and make-up like normal girls because Rosie isn't a run-of-the-mill girl. She's fantastic in Sally's eyes."

In another episode, she catches them leaving the Harris's together. After that she grounds Rosie and makes her finish with Craig.

"Rosie goes along with it to make her happy. Sally's pushing her away and Rosie's going to rebel big time," warns the actress. "I don't think she wants Rosie to have a boyfriend either. No one around Weatherfield is good enough for her Rosie, certainly not Angela and Tommy's son Craig."

Whittaker is a mum herself to nine-year-old Phoebe, son Sam, seven, and Harriet, who's just five months old. "All mums are worried about their daughters going out with their first boyfriends," she says.

"I don't think she's talked to Rosie about boys, she's too wrapped up in her own affairs, but she needs to. She dreads Rosie ending up like Sarah Platt - working in the cafe with a baby in tow and another one on the way.

"It's too far in the future for me to imagine how I'll feel when Phoebe has her first romance. But I do think about this drama thing. When the storyline first started in March, I had to take Phoebe to her first ballet class. I turned up with my daughter thinking everyone was looking at me as if I was the mother from hell."

"One mum even rang me the other day to see if I knew of any good drama schools locally. I was thinking, 'Oh God, people are watching Corrie thinking mad Sally is me'. It's worrying when art imitates life."

She says she's not like screen Sally at all and doesn't want her children to go into the profession. If they really wanted to, she'd be behind them, but she'd rather they went behind the camera because "you're so vulnerable in front of it".

Her husband Tim writes for another ITV soap, Emmerdale, and she sometimes feels envious about his position behind the camera. "On screen, you're the one who's in the firing line. There are so many wonderful things you can do these days. Acting's not all it's cracked up to be. I want the children to look at other things."

The latest addition to her and Tim's family, Harriet, arrived in November. Sally had her fears about having a baby at 40, but the little one's healthy and happy and Sally's overjoyed.

"She's just gorgeous. She's the baby from heaven and such a little sweetie. She's so chilled out," she says.

Back on the Street, Sally's onscreen kids are going to keep her hands full. The next few years are going to be about Rosie and Sophie. "And Kevin's going to save the day, I think. Sally's behaviour is just another crazy cycle in the Webster lifestyle," she says.

"In some ways this has been great to play because you can see the funny side. I've let my kids, Sam and Phoebe, watch these episodes because I knew everyone would be talking about it."

* Coronation Street is on ITV1 on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with an omnibus edition on Saturday

Published: 15/04/2004