Michelle Collins has been practising her pint-pulling to take up her new role behind the bar at the Rovers Return. The former EastEnders actress is swapping Albert Square for Coronation Street to play new Rovers manager Stella Price. She is drafted in by owner Steve McDonald after a series of bust-ups with his wife Becky. But Steve gets more than he bargained for when Stella brings along her feisty daughter Eva (Catherine Tyldesley) and partner Karl Munro, played by Taggart actor John Michie. Michelle and her new co-stars posed on the famous cobbles to mark their entrance. The actress - formerly Walford's Cindy Beale - recalled how her scenes behind the bar took her back to her early days as a little-known actress. "I hadn't pulled a pint for a long long time, but at one point years and years ago I did work in a pub when I was a struggling young actress. I think it's a bit like riding a bike." Remembering the first pint she pulled on set at the Rovers, Michelle said: "It's a bit surreal now actually. I think it was a pretty good pint." The star also admitted perfecting a northern accent to play Stella has been a struggle - and she's bracing herself for criticism. "I know there will be people going, 'Oh that's awful, that's not right' - but, you know, you can't pin everybody down to one place, that's what Corrie's about - everyone's from very different places. I have had a dialect coach and we've gone with one style and that's what we're going to stick to." Michelle will appear on screen on Thursday, June 16 with John and Catherine making their debuts on June 17.
