ACTRESS June Whitfield is soon to be seen gracing the cobbles of Weatherfield when she visits Coronation Street to explain the death of Blanche Hunt to her friends and relatives.

The Absolutely Fabulous star will be playing the role of Blanche’s pal who was holidaying with her in Portugal when she died.

Maggie Jones, who played Blanche, became ill and passed away at the end of last year. Her character had to be quickly written out of the soap, but now June will be filling in the gaps for viewers.

And she says that taking the part is one of the most difficult jobs she has ever had.

“I admire them tremendously,” she says. “How the actors do it I don’t know — they have three or four scripts in their head at the same time.”

The London-born actress started her television acting career in the 60s, but it was 1974’s Terry and June that really propelled her to stardom.

But it was always inevitable that she would become an actress — her mother Bertha was a keen member of local amateur dramatics groups, and introduced her young daughter to acting classes and dancing.

“I suppose I drifted on from there,” says June. “It was just always something I thought I should do.”

She says young people now are too obsessed with becoming famous overnight, and her advice to budding actors is “just keep at it”.

“The trouble is nowadays a lot of kids want instant stardom, and it doesn’t happen like that.”

She was awarded an OBE in 1985, but laughs at the “national treasure” title.

“I think I prefer ‘archive’,” she says. “They dig me up occasionally.”

June will also be hosting “We’ll Meet Again — A Musical Salute to the War Years” at the Bridgewater Hall on April 18.

The concert is a celebration of nostalgic hits, including White Cliffs Of Dover and In The Mood.

And June believes it isn’t only older people who are enjoying music such as that made by Dame Vera Lynn, who recently topped the album charts.

“It just goes to show — it can’t all be older people buying that record,” she says.

She describes the music as “to die for”, and says there will be a section where the audience are encourage to join in.

• We’ll Meet Again is at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, on Sunday, April 18. Tickets cost £19.50-£35 and are available from bridgewater-hall.co.uk or by ringing 0161 907 9000.