Michelle Collins has said she feels like people wanted her to "fail" when she signed up to Coronation Street.
The 51-year-old actress - who joined the ITV soap as Stella Price in 2011 - says some viewers were determined to undermine her character by criticising her northern accent, as well as pointing out Michelle's past role as Cindy Beale in rival show 'EastEnders'.
Writing in her new autobiography, 'This is Me', Michelle explained: "The lowdown was that my northern accent was absolutely laughable and many people were saying I shouldn't have been cast at all. I should have known it was on the cards.
"There'd been some doubtful mutterings and finger-waving in some circles even before I'd appeared. Oh no, no, no - Cindy Beale can't be in 'Coronation Street'. That just won't do. Some people wanted me to fail before I'd even started and talk of my supposedly dodgy accent was just the ammunition they needed."
Michelle also admits she was disappointed when 'Corrie' producer Stuart Blackburn opted to oust Stella as landlady of the Rovers Return pub and bring back Beverley Callard's Liz McDonald - and she even thought about quitting.
The actress said: "It was a bit of a blow, to be honest. In fact, I'm not sure I would have signed up for another year if I'd known it was going to happen. I wasn't sure how it was going to work if Stella wasn't running the pub, and I can't pretend I wasn't disappointed."
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