Jennie McAlpine recently made a much-welcomed return to screens as Fiz Dobbs in Coronation Street. She left the cobbles in early 2023 as she landed a new job in Norwich where she worked at a different factory as a supervisor, upon the suggestion of serial killer Stephen Reid.
But while Corrie fans are happy to see Fiz back on the cobbles, acting isn't actually where Jennie's career started out. Her big break into the industry came in 1997 when she was just 13 years old, the Express reports. She is said to have auditioned for the role with her arm in a sling, after dislocating her shoulder in a fall two days earlier. When bagging the job, Jennie was originally hired for five episodes, and went back to studying for her A-levels and working part-time in Boots. However, she was quickly made a permanent star of the soap and hasn't looked back since.
Jennie and Chris welcomed their first child together, Albert, in 2014 and, a year after their wedding, the soap star announced that she was pregnant with her second child, and gave birth the same year to a girl they named Hilda. Jennie had previously hinted she might name the child after a character on the soap and she seemed to have stuck to it and opted for Hilda Ogden, played by Jean Alexander from 1964 to 1987.
Away from their family life, Jennie and Chris have actually gone into business together. Tea room and restaurant Annie's is located in Manchester's Royal Exchange and offers up a bit of everything - from Afternoon Tea to Sunday Lunch and we even spotted a hotpot on the menu.