Ken and his 1,000 Barbies

Coronation Street veteran Bill Roache has spoken about his womanising past, claiming to have bedded scores of women, including soap legend Pat Phoenix.

The 79-year-old, who has played strait-laced Ken Barlow in the show for more than half a century, revealed details of his wild behaviour in an interview with Piers Morgan on his Life Stories show.

Roache said: "There were plenty of girls around.

"I shouldn't have done it. I didn't have any control over my own sex drive. I didn't have the strength to control it."

He told Morgan he had slept with "more than 100" women and when asked if the number was nearer 1,000, he said: "Well, I'm not denying it."

Roache said his infidelity caused the breakdown of his first marriage and left him "regretting and hurting".

Talking about his fling with Phoenix, who played flame-haired battleaxe Elsie Tanner in the show, Roache said it was "a one-off".

He said: "It was just something that happened one night when we were together."

It seems life has imitated art, as Ken Barlow has had his fair share of relationships on Coronation Street. See here.