Coronation Street's Tracie Bennett shares pain of losing 12 friends to coronavirus

Coronation Street’s Tracie Bennett has opened up on the pain of losing 12 friends to coronavirus.

The 59-year-old soap star — who recently returned to Corrie as Rita Fairclough's foster daughter Sharon Gaskell — admitted how upsetting it had been saying goodbye to loved ones over video call.

Bennett told the Express: "I’ve lost 12 friends now. Nobody trains you how to say goodbye to your mates on FaceTime."

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The Broadway star — who played Judy Garland in musical End Of The Rainbow — has many friends in America and revealed she lost eight friends in just four weeks.

She admitted: "That was so traumatising.

In one way, technology is brilliant. But in another way, you don’t want to be saying goodbye to your mate and watching them die on FaceTime, do you? That was hard."

In December Bennett posted a picture of herself in tears on Twitter with no explanation - prompting concern from her fans.

She later tweeted: "I have absolutely NO recollection of me putting this single pic up here today... So sorry. Didn’t mean to cause this amount of alarm? Just felt helpless & hopeless at not being able to help others."

She later added: "There’s been never ending overwhelming bad news all around me for a while.

"Had to have an emotional cleanse today, to reset. Better out than in.

“Meanwhile, thanks so very much for all your kindness.”

Bennett first joined the cast of Coronation Street in 1982 and left the cobbles in 1999, before returning last month.

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The West End star has won two Olivier Awards and was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in End of the Rainbow on Broadway.

Bennett is also known for her starring roles in ITV dramas Scott and Bailey and The Bay.

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