William Roache - Ken's Women Worries
We spoke to William Roache about Ken's ever-complicated love life.
Is Ken ready for another relationship?
He hasn’t got over Deirdre yet, Nessa has come along and is naturally very forceful, it wasn’t that Ken was looking for a relationship, but Nessa’s the one that’s got the eyes for him and she went for Ken, he was almost overwhelmed by it.
How important has Audrey’s friendship been in helping him cope?
He’s known Audrey for 30 years, she's been married to other people but they’ve always had a very nice respect for each other. She's respected the fact that Ken is a University Graduate, has a Degree. Since the death of Deirdre she has been very warm and very sympathetic, which is laying down the foundation so when the time is right, their relationship could grow.
How does Ken think Audrey feels about him?
He knows that she likes him and that they get on but I don’t think he knows, he’s a bit wary about whether she feels the same way about him that he feels about her, and this is something that’s to be explored, so no. They like each other they know that.
It would be easier to say how is she the same, totally diametrically apposed. Audrey is gentle, strong, with a quiet sense of humour. Nessa is outgoing, over-confident, rushes in without thinking, pulls everything along, and she even gets Ken on a bike and doing all sorts which is great fun, whether it’ll last I’m not sure, but it’s still early days.
How does Ken feel when Nessa suggests stopping the night?
Well, he said “let’s go back to my place” and she said “well I can stay the night if you like”, then she said “oh oh I’m sorry” because she’s very pushy and I think he was completely taken by surprise. I think it was more that he didn’t want to upset her than any other reason.
Cathy thinks she’s trouble – Does Ken have any inkling she might be bad news?
Yeah, he realises that she doesn’t think, she acts before putting any thought into something. So soon enough she’s going to get herself into trouble, and Ken pretty quickly sees that.
Does he ever think that they might be too different? Or does he just enjoy the company?
He’s partly enjoying the company, he keeps saying things like, “Well Deirdre wouldn’t want me to sit around moping”, but I think he's justifying the fact he doesn’t think like she does. but she’s really good fun, there’s no doubt about that, and hopefully the viewers find her fun too.
Is Ken embarrassed when Tracy finds Nessa making breakfast? What does she say?
Well, he was expecting trouble from Tracy, there’s always trouble from Tracy, so he defends Nessa because, he didn’t plan it, he didn’t look for it, but it happened, so he has to defend her, which he does, but I think his heart isn’t in it, inside he doesn’t feel it’s right, at the time.
What would Ken do if he knew Audrey had feelings for him? Would he end things with Nessa?
If he knew that, he would drop everything! He would like to think that she had feelings for him, but he doesn’t know. He certainly has for her, but he hasn’t allowed himself to open up and express them until he’s fully over Deirdre.
Do you think Ken and Audrey would make a good couple?
I do, I really do, this is me Bill Roache speaking, when I first heard the producers say this is what they're going to do, I thought it was a great idea, it’s amazing after all these years of just being friends, but it’s going to be stretched out, it will be on and off, they're not just going to get together, bang get married because there’s no story there. There’ll definitely be problems.
Have you enjoyed working closely with Sue Nicholls?
Sue is brilliant to work with and so is Sadie who plays Nessa, as an actress she’s brilliant and I love her dearly, I have enjoyed working with her very much.