The latest episode of Coronation Street, which is streaming on ITVX now and will air on ITV1 tonight, sees legendary character Rita Tanner celebrate her birthday. But just how old is she? Well, as of today’s episode, Rita is officially 94 years old.
The episode sees Mary Taylor gift her a commemorative plate to celebrate, while Brian Packham couldn’t even be bothered to get her a card (he claimed he was “too preoccupied with the theft of my book”).
The trio were later joined by Ken Barlow in The Rovers and they all donned sparkly hats and tiaras. But birthday girl Rita was annoyed that all the gents wanted to talk about was the “spate” of thefts on the street lately.
Adam popped over to say hello and wish Rita a happy birthday too, but after Mary tried to get him to wear a party cone and attempted to flirt with him, he elected not to join them.
ITV
Last week, Rita appeared in scenes where she revealed what Emily Bishop is up to nowadays, 10 years after she was last seen on the cobbles.
Last year, Rita only appeared in 23 episodes, but her actor Barbara Knox, who is 92 in real life, has stated that she has no plans to retire from her iconic role (which she first played in 1964).
ITV
“If they’re listening. I don’t want to retire,” she told The Mirror in 2023.
Sally Ann Matthews (who plays Jenny Bradley) stated the following year that Knox had made it known that she wants more scenes, and specifically scenes in The Kabin with Mary, Brian, and Sally Metcalfe, as opposed to scenes in The Rovers with characters she doesn’t normally interact with.
