Georgia Taylor and Jane Danson celebrate 21 years of Corrie’s Battersby sisters

Coronation Street star Georgia Taylor has said she would never have returned to the soap if it had not been for her on-screen sister Jane Danson.

The actresses first arrived on the cobbles as Toyah and Leanne Battersby respectively 21 years ago.

Danson told ITV’s Lorraine: “From the start, it kind of went off with a bit of a bang and it’s carried on ever since… [It was] life changing for us, amazing.

“It doesn’t feel like work when you’ve your best friend next to you.

“We know each other so well it’s just easy, if one of us is upset about something the other picks the other one up.

“We’ve always had that relationship from day one. It’s great to have her back.”

Taylor, who returned to the soap in 2016 after departing in 2003, said Danson was a crucial part of her decision to go back to Weatherfield.

She said: “I’ve got to say I wouldn’t have come back if you weren’t there, definitely that was such a big factor for me.

“I knew I had my pal there and that it was going to be fine. My first day back was bed scenes with Chris Gascoyne (who plays Peter Barlow), that was my first day in a hotel in Manchester just in bed with Chris all day!

“I was like, ‘right this is a baptism of fire’, but it’s good and it kind of breaks the ice. Then you just get on with it.

“There are so many faces, a lot of the crew are the same, so it’s really nice.”

The duo are now involved in a new plotline together, where they both fall for the same man.

Danson said: “It’s quite fun. They both don’t know that they are seeing him at the same time.

“He’s quite a dish though – so it’s alright. They are both feeling quite happy… It’s not the reaction you would have expected from Leanne and Toyah.”