CORONATION Street star Maureen Lipman is engaged to get married.
The actress, 78, asked boyfriend David Turner to marry her while they were on the train – 20 years after the death of her first husband, and
three after her partner passed away.
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The star, loved for playing Evelyn in Corrie, explained that the couple were on their way home from event, when she decided last minute to pop the question after realising it was the one day of the year Jewish women can propose.
Maureen wrote in the Spectator: “Later that night my partner David and I decided to tell our children that, with a combined age of 156, we are going to get married.
“In truth I had been rather against the ‘M’ word, but on a train coming back from Edinburgh he mentioned that it was the minor festival of Tu B’Av – a day when a Jewish woman can ask a man to marry her.
“Unable to resist the gag, I slid under the table separating us on to one knee and asked him for his hand. To my surprise and slight panic, he gave it.”
The pair decided to tell her children the happy news on September 8th – on what would have been the birthday of her late husband Jack Rosenthal.
Maureen first mentioned David in late 2023, when she brought him as her date to the National Television Awards.
Past loves
Her first husband, Jack, was a screenwriter for Coronation Street, writing 250 episodes.
Tragically, Jack died in 2004, with Maureen later meeting partner Guido Castro.
The acclaimed actress was in a relationship with the businessman for 13 years, but in 2021, he sadly passed following a battle with coronavirus, which left him “weakened”.
The star attributes his death to a form of Parkinson’s Disease.
She explained that Guido, 84, contracted the virus days after receiving the coronavirus vaccine.
Coronation Street’s Maureen Lipman talks about her future on the ITV soap
Corrie career
Maureen first joined Corrie as Elevyn when Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) went on a quest to uncover details about his lineage.
This search led him to his long-lost grandmother, Evelyn.
She lives on Coronation Street alongside Tyrone, Fiz (Jennie McAlpine), and their two daughters, Hope (Isabella Flanagan) and Ruby (Billie Naylor).
Maureen’s portrayal of the no-nonsense Evelyn made her one of the soap’s standout characters.
Fans were left fearing that she might end up leaving Coronation Street for good after she shared that she is taking a sabbatical from the show this summer.
But during her recent interview with Alan Titchmarsh, the actress opened up about her ongoing role on the soap.
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When Alan noted that she had signed on to star in Corrie for another year, Maureen enthusiastically confirmed: “Yes, I have been signed up to do another year.”
Reflecting on her time on the ITV soap, Maureen shared how much she enjoys the work, saying, “It’s good for you, it keeps you on your metal, my goodness me. I mean everything is still completely fascinating to me.”
