Corrie newcomer Jodie Prenger 'curtsied' upon meeting Bill Roache

Jodie Prenger "curtsied" when she met Bill Roache.

The 43-year-old actress has joined the cast of 'Coronation Street' and joked that she looked like a "weirdo" when she met screen legend Bill,90, who has appeared as Ken Barlow on the ITV soap since its very first episode back in 1960.

She said: "I have just met Bill Roache and I don't know what I did with my body but it was like half a curtsy and I went to do a shake. It just didn't work out and I just made a bit of a weirdo of myself, but he was so lovely."

The Blackpool-born star - who shot to fame when she won Andrew Lloyd Webber's BBC talent search 'I'd Do Anything' back in 2008 and as a result played the role of Nancy in a West End production of 'Oliver!' - is playing the role of cruise ship singer Glenda Jackson, who is the sister of established character George Shuttleworth, and explained that joining the show was an "honour" because her nan used to "worship" original street siren Elsie Tanner, played by the late Pat Phoenix.

She told The Daily Star's HOTTV Column: "My family are all from Manchester - Moss side. They used to have a cafe-cum-grocery and my nan's brother used to deliver Pat Phoenix's groceries. That is how much we love it! My nan Terry Doyle worshipped Elsie Tanner and when your family have loved something for so long, it is genuinely an honour to be part of something that is an institution and a family. On my first day I remember driving up to the gates at ITV and it felt like I was at MGM Studios. It was amazing, I didn't need a trip to Disney World!"

Jodie - who since playing Nancy in 'Oliver!' has enjoyed a long career in theatre and starred in shows such as 'Calamity Jane', 'Tell Me on a Sunday' and 'Shirley Valentine' - has seen her character join the Rovers Return Inn as a barmaid and added that she began to cry when she first stepped onto the pub set.

She added: "I could feel the tears start to come down my face [when I was on set in the pub.] You don't realise the effect it has. There are tiny little things that she says like 'Are they 'eck as like' and 'Oh, come on kid!.' It's stuff I say!"

Jodie began filming on 'Coronation Street' back in July and her first scenes are set to air in early August.