Coronation Street icon, 78, is engaged after proposing to partner

Coronation Street’s Dame Maureen Lipman is engaged to be married.

The veteran actress, 78, has played the part of Tyrone Dobbs’ (Alan Halsall) grandmother Evelyn Plummer in the ITV soap since 2018.

And the soap star revealed that she first asked David Turner for his hand on a train as a joke – and Mr Turner, also 78, said yes.

Writing in The Spectator, she said: ‘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, onto one knee, and asked him for his hand. To my surprise and slight panic, he gave it.’

During her time as the show’s resident harridan, we’ve seen Evelyn reconnect with her estranged grandson and force her way into his family home at No. 9 Coronation Street and form a compelling friendship with Roy Cropper (David Neilson).

Corrie fans will have to say goodbye to Evelyn later this year as TV legend Dame Maureen is set to leave the cobbles to take on a new role.

However, later this year she’ll be swapping the Rovers for the stage, as she appears in Richmond Theatre’s annual pantomime.

Announcing the news last month, the venue wrote on Instagram: ‘We are so excited to announce that Dame Maureen Lipman will star as Mrs Potty and Pete Firman will play Silly Billy in this year’s spellbinding pantomime Beauty and the Beast!’

The news, however, has sparked fears that Maureen could be bowing out of Weatherfield after six years – but fear not, she will be back!

When approached for comment, a spokesperson confirmed to Metro.co.uk: ‘Dame Maureen is taking a sabbatical from Coronation Street towards the end of the year. We look forward to seeing her back on the cobbles in 2025.’

The production will take place between December 7th and January 5th, so it’s likely she’ll make her departure for a number of months.

Viewers will recall that this isn’t the first time Maureen has taken an extended break – last year she appeared in ‘Rose’ in London’s West End, and therefore Evelyn took daughter Cassie off to rehab to facilitate her absence.

Earlier this year she took a swipe at Corrie’s dark storylines, and harked back to its formative years – a time when many scripts were penned by her late husband, prolific screenwriter Jack Rosenthal.