The character, portrayed by Sue Nicholls, is a television icon – having first appeared all the way back in 1979. Audrey arrived on the cobbles as the mother of Gail (Helen Worth) – and it wasn’t long before Audrey established herself as a beloved favourite.

Through the years, audiences have experienced heartache and happiness alongside Audrey, including her wedding to Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley) in 1985 and his devastating death in 1999.

They’ve also witnessed Audrey become a great-grandmother to characters such as Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon) and seen her working with grandson David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd) at Audrey’s hairdressing salon.

And much like her daughter, Audrey has experienced a tumultuous romantic history on the iconic street. Following Alf’s passing, she began a relationship with butcher Fred Elliott (John Savident), reports the Daily Star.

She also became engaged to former male escort and fraudster Lewis Archer (Nigel Havers). Lewis ultimately reformed himself to wed Audrey before his sudden death in 2019.

In recent months however, Audrey has been absent from the soap, prompting significant worry amongst viewers. On X, one person questioned: “So great to have scenes in the salon again but no Audrey?”.

Another added: “Where is Granny Audrey? She’s meant to live in David’s but is never seen. I’m sure she’d have plenty to say about blank-faced Jodie taking over the house.”

In Thursday’s episode (February 26), however, the soap delivered a significant update regarding Audrey’s whereabouts. During the instalment, granddaughter Sarah (Tina O’Brien) was seen speaking to her mum Gail over the phone.

In the conversation, Sarah confirmed that Audrey was currently away on holiday — news that will likely disappoint fans hoping to see her return to the long-running programme in the near future.

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Before her Corrie role, Sue enjoyed a lesser-known singing career and landed her first soap part in the legendary Crossroads.

In 1968, she released a track entitled Where Will You Be? , which climbed to number 17 in the UK Music Charts. It has also been reported that she performed in a cabaret club in Vienna during her younger years.

She further became a familiar face on British television, appearing in The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin alongside Leonard Rossiter between 1976 and 1979, and portraying Nadia Popov in Rentaghost from 1981 to 1984.

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Coronation Street airs Monday to Friday at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX