Insights into Corrie’s life as an actress in Toyah Battersby – real name, famous partner and film past

Georgia Taylor made her debut as Toyah Battersby on the ITV soap in 1997, with her onscreen family – father Les, mother Janice and sister Leanne – wreaking havoc on the cobbles. Georgia left the company in 2003 and returned to Weatherfield in 2016 after a 13-year absence

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Corrie: Georgia Taylor opens up about Toyah’s relationship with Imran in 2020

Coronation Street’s Toyah Battersby actress Georgia Taylor has been wowing soap viewers since she made her debut on the ITV soap opera in the ’90s.

She hit the cobbles in 1997 alongside father Les Battersby (Bruce Jones), mother Janice (Vicky Entwistle) and sister Leanne, played by Jane Danson.

Georgia was just 17 when she made her Corrie debut, and it wasn’t long before the Battersbys, dubbed the “family from hell,” caused trouble in Weatherfield.

Toyah began a romance with eco-warrior Spider Nugent, but she was heartbroken when he left to go to India.

Her character endured trials and tribulations during her first appearance on the series, and viewers were horrified when Toyah was involved in a harrowing storyline involving her being raped by Phil Simmonds.

Toyah left the Cobblestones in 2003 when she found out her boyfriend John Arnley was having an affair with her best friend Maria.

Fans were also stunned to discover that her name wasn’t Georgia but was born Claire Jackson.

She said she had to change her name when she became an actress because “there seemed to be a lot of Claires” when she registered with actors’ union Equity.

“I can’t tell you where I got Georgia from other than liking it, but my grandfather’s last name was Taylor and he died just before I got the part,” she told the Daily Mirror.

“As a teenager, I didn’t really think about the consequences of going for a completely different name, but that means there’s been quite a bit of confusion over the years. At this point, I’ll answer pretty much anything!” She laughed.

Georgia then landed a role on Casualty in 2007 as Dr. Ruth Winters and was a series regular until 2011.

She has also appeared in other TV shows including Midsummer Murders, Lewis, Where the Heart is, Law and Order: UK and Life on Mars, and tried her hand in theater, starring opposite Helen Baxendale in The Woman Before .

Georgia played Kate Barker on Law & Order: UK and had a small role on the ITV detective series Agatha Raisin.

The actress has also secured a few film roles during her hiatus from Corrie, starring alongside Dominic Cooper and James Corden in the 2006 comedy The History Boys and the 2008 Jason Statham crime novel The Bank Job was.

In 2016, it was announced that she was making her long-awaited return to Weatherfield, and at Christmas that year, Toyah came back to reveal not only that she had left her husband, but also a relationship with Peter Barlow, her sister’s Leanne, recorded ex.

Since returning, Toyah has endured a devastating heartbreak as she and Peter set out to become parents, undergoing IVF and eventually opting for a surrogate, but that ended in tragic loss and a scandalous secret of what led to the couple’s separation.

Off the screen, Georgia is dating fellow actor Mark Letheren, having met him on the set of Casualty in 2008.

He’s now a budding photographer and the couple regularly share loved-up snaps on social media.

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