'I’m so disillusioned with men and I never get chatted up': Corrie maneater Catherine Tyldesley is unlucky in love

'I’m so disillusioned with men and I never get chatted up': Corrie maneater Catherine Tyldesley is unlucky in love

With her long blonde hair, big blue eyes and curvaceous figure, she’s one of the sexiest women on TV.

But Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley says her screen role has been no help whatsoever in helping her to find Mr Right.

In fact, she’s currently so fed up with men that looking for love is most definitely on the back burner while she concentrates on her career as glamorous cobbles vamp Eva Price.

“I’m so disillusioned with men at the moment,” she explains.

“I’ve been treated badly in the past. When you are younger you stand for things, but now I’m 28 my patience levels have gone down!

“There are things I wouldn’t put up with now.

"I am a good person and if I’m in a relationship I give it 110%, so that’s what I expect back in return and I’ve never had that.

"I’ve never been with somebody where I’ve been a priority really.

“Maybe it’s the age of the guys I’ve been dating, because even some guys my age still act like they’re 18.

"I can’t be doing with it. I need somebody who is a bit older-minded.

“I’m not a party animal and I’m not into clubbing, it’s rare that I get drunk, so maybe I’m a bit of a granny â€" I’m old before my time.”

Catherine has been single since she joined Coronation Street a year ago.

And what’s more surprising is that the stunning actress says she never gets chatted up by men.

“When I’m out I never get approached, unless it’s by some drunken idiot,” she says.

“I get the occasional person who will talk to me and there has been some interest, but nothing outrageous. I certainly don’t get chatted up.

“Possibly men are intimidated by my screen character, I don’t know.

"I’ve been single for a while. I’ve been on a couple of dates, but it’s been quite a long time now.

“I’m not bothered, though. I haven’t got the time and it’s no t a priority. It wouldn’t be fair to be in a relationship.

“Work is full-on at the minute so it would be a case of: ‘Well, I can fit you in between three and four’.

"Eventually I would love to settle down and I love kids, but at the minute it’s not on the radar.”

Now: In Corrie with co-stars Ben Price and Michelle Collins

On screen she’s not having much luck, either.

Eva’s relationship with Bistro owner Nick (Ben Price) has hit the rocks after she wrongly accused him of having an affair with his sister-in-law Kylie Platt.

But he has let her keep her waitressing job and Eva interprets his kindness as a sign they could rekindle their relationship.

And, when hunky builder Jason Grimshaw invited her on a date, Eva saw her chance to play them off against each other.

“She’s never really thought about Jason in that way before, but she thought it could be a nice little game that she could play,” Catherine explains.

“She thought it would make Nick jealous, but he’s really not that bothered, so it backfired completely. And poor Jason is caught in the middle of it, bless him.”

She is also rumoured to become involved with the Street’s new hunk on the block Rob Donovan.

While she is relishing every second of her time as Street siren Eva, Ca therine admits she has not always been this shape and, as a teenager, the 5ft 8in actress battled with her weight.

“It started to creep on when I started at high school and then around the fourth and fifth year, when I did my GCSEs, it really went on,” she recalls.

“I comfort eat â€" that’s what I do when I’m stressed. I’m not one of those people who doesn’t eat â€" I’m like ‘Bring on the carbs’.”

Catherine grew up in Manchester with her parents Janet and Graham, who work for the Catholic church, and her younger sister Bernadette, who is in the fire service.

But she insists her family was not to blame for her bad eating habits.

“To be fair to my mum and dad, everything we had at home was nutritious and home-grown and well-balanced,” she recalls.

“It was in my own time I ate badly. I’d go to the tuck shop or, if I went round to a friend’s house and their mum asked ‘Have you had your tea?’ I’d say no, even if I had.”

Then: Catherine when was a size 22 and weighed 15 stone

Catherine eventually tipped the scales at 15st and wore a size-22 dress. Passionate about acting and singing, she began trying out for roles.

At an audition for the part of Rizzo in Grease, a cruel director told her that she was too fat to make it in acting.

The nasty remark gave her the push she needed to change and she lost five stone, slimming down to her current size 10.

She went on to study drama and dance at the Birmingham School of Acting, but found her weight dropping too low.

“I’m tall and some of the girls were these dainty little dancers and you think you need to be like that and, of course, you absolutely don’t.

"I got too t hin. I was dancing for three or four hours a day and eating salad.”

Catherine eventually stabilised at around ­nine-and-a-half stone and has stayed that way for almost a decade, attributing the plateau to a sensible diet and regular exercise.

“My weight has been up and down since, but nothing much and it’s been more constant than ever now I’m training,” she says.

“I’ve also educated myself on nutrition. It’s the sort of stuff you should be taught at school.

“When I did food technology we cooked pizza, cake and white bread â€" everything that is bad for you.

“I regret letting myself get like that. Life is so precious. I’ve lost a couple of friends who were my age and anything could happen at any time; you’ve got to look after your body.

“I’ve also had relatives who have been ill and it really makes me think ‘Actually, I’m going to do everything I can to be as healthy as possible’.

"Why wouldn’t y ou? If you love life then that’s what you want to do.”

Friendly, funny and cheerful, it’s clear Catherine has a huge enthusiasm for life and she admits that she used the power of positive thinking to help her land her Coronation Street role a year ago.

A lifelong fan of the show, she couldn’t believe it when she was invited to try out for the role of Eva.

Northern passion: Posing with Yorkshire puddings when starring in Emmerdale

“I put Post-it Notes all around my house, on cupboards and mirrors, with the message: ‘I’m going to be in Coronation Street from May 2011’,” Catherine recalls with a smile.

“Whenever I saw it, I’d say it out loud. I thought I had to put the positivity out there to keep me hopeful. I wanted to do everything I could.”

Her TV break came in 2006, when she appeared in Holby City, then in 2011 she spent two months in Emmerdale as prison officer Abi Peterson.

She has also briefly appeared in Coronation Street once before, delivering Sunita Alahan’s twins. “I was midwife two!” she laugh s.

“I’ve been back and forth over the years many times for different parts.

"The casting director used to say to me there would be something there for me and not to worry. She kept bringing me back and, eventually, it clicked.

“It sounds weird but I always knew I’d end up doing it. It’s been a big part of my childhood â€" we always watched it.

"My grandma and grandad are obsessed. I took them on to the Street after I joined and it was their best day ever.”

Her grandparents, along with millions of others, are gripped by the state of volatile Eva’s tangled love life.

And there are more fireworks ahead when Eva discovers the identity of the woman Nick is really in love with. Catherine says she can’t wait.

“There is so much scope with Eva,” she explains. “She likes to be somebody’s number one. She likes to be queen bee.”

As far removed from pushy Eva as it’s possible to be, Catherine’s own aims are , thankfully, a little less demanding.

 “I’d like to stay in Coronation Street for as long as they’ll have me,” she smiles, modestly. “I’m really happy here.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CORONATION STREET, VISIT WWW.ITV.COM/CORRIE.