Coronation Street fans have been left stunned after discovering Georgia Taylor’s real name during a conversation on the On the Sofa podcast.

The 45-year-old is famed for playing Toyah Battersby on the ITV soap since 1997, when the character was introduced along with her parents, Janice (played by Vicky Entwistle) and Les (Bruce Jones).

Toyah is also the half-sister of Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson), and she recently had an affair with Nick Tilsey (Ben Price). Despite Leanne’s initial fury over the couple’s betrayal, Toyah and Nick are now a solid couple and run the Bistro together.

Speaking about filming a recent Corrie scene with Toyah star Georgia, podcast host Ben Price, who plays Nick, caused confusion after calling the actress Claire.

Ben, 54, explained that he joked about sacking some cast members in a bid to make “Claire laugh”.

He told co-stars Jack Shepherd and Colson Smith: “I had to do some ADR (automated dialogue replacement) yesterday and it was the top of the scene and we’re in the Bistro.”

Colson, who played Craig Tinker, jumped in: “And you have been naughty.”

Ben continued: “So I was like fine, Claire, who plays Toyah, is next to me, and I thought it would be quite funny, I’m serious, to make her laugh.”

David Platt actor Jack chimed in: “I know what this is”, as he started to giggle.

Ben continued: “The waiters and waitresses have all been there for years. Anyway, he came over and he had to ad lib with me, and I said, ‘You see those two over there, can you get them sacked and then chucked out because they’re c**p!’

“So I have said that and then I get called up to ADR and they go ‘oh hi Ben, yeah the director just wants to hear what you said’,” he went on, bursting into laughter.

Ben later added: “It’s hilarious that you mime something and think you won’t get caught up, and they did catch me out.”

Responding to the clip, one Corrie fan commented, “Who’s Claire? Toyah is played by Georgia Taylor.”

A second explained: “Her real name is Claire x”, while a third chimed in: “I had absolutely no idea!”

Toyah star Georgia was born Claire Jackson but changed her name due to its popularity when she joined the ITV soap in the late 1990s.

She previously explained to the Mirror: “It’s not that I planned this to happen. But when I started with Coronation Street I had to register with Equity, the actors’ union, and at the time there seemed to be a hell of a lot of Claires so I had to think of something else.”

Georgia added: “I couldn’t tell you where I got Georgia from, other than I liked it, but my grandad’s surname was Taylor and he passed away not long before I got the part.”