Coronation Street has provided an update on one of it’s most iconic characters – Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle).
Janice, the mum of Toyah (Georgia Taylor), wife of layabout Les (Bruce Jones) and step-mum to his daughter Leanne (Jane Danson) was a regular character on the street between 1997 and 2011.
Her exit story saw her fall for lodger Trevor Dean (Steve Jackson) and the two left to travel the world, though in more recent years we’ve learnt that she’s settled in Liverpool.
She was most recently mentioned when Toyah confided in Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) about her stillborn baby Rose, that she buried at North Cross Park in 2001.
When Nick asked how Janice and Les didn’t notice, she said they were too busy celebrating a bingo win.
Last night’s (24th July) episode provided a further explanation for her absence.
Following Toyah’s diagnosis with germ cell ovarian cancer, Leanne wondered whether Toyah had told Janice. She explained she hadn’t, and didn’t intend to as she wanted to deal with it on her own.
Leanne, who is currently entwined in a vicious cult, took this quite literally and told her that she planned withdraw emotionally and actively disconnect from the situation herself.
Brutal.
It’s unlikely that we’ll ever catch-up with Janice again, after some comments she made earlier this year regarding the ITV soap’s storylines.
In the early hours of 4th April, Vicky chipped in her opinion on the episodes surrounding Toyah’s stillborn baby, taking to X/Twitter to pose a question to co-star Bruce Jones.
‘Well we tried to make our moments as real as they could possibly be, didn’t we Bruce?!’ she began.
‘I guess we failed. Who knew [that] digging up dead babies would become the highlight of ITV’s tea time slot!!!’
Well we tried to make our moments as real as they could possibly be, didn’t we?! @Brucejonesnew
I guess we failed. 😢
Who knew digging up dead babies would become the highlight of ITV’s tea time slot!!! 🤦♀️— Vicky Entwistle (@vicky_entwistle) April 4, 2024
This isn’t the first time that Vicky has weighed in on episodes, having criticised writers involved in the heartbreaking death of Oliver Battersby, Leanne’s son, in 2020.
In a since deleted tweet, she wrote: ‘Imagine if she (Danson) had better writers behind her!!! That really would have been something!!!’
Her on-screen step-daughter swiped back, adding: ‘Thats so disrespectful. They were some of the best scripts I have ever had.’
The following day she issued a public apology, describing her words as ‘childish and hurtful.’
