Weatherfield’s residents turned out to support on-screen neighbour Jennie McAlpine and her other half as they launched their online tea shop.
The Corrie stars sat down at the couple’s restaurant, Annies, and toasted to their sweet success with tea and homemade scones.
The new venture means fans of the cosey eatery, tucked away on Bank Street, can now browse and shop a selection of their cakes, biscuits and special blended tea online.
Jennie, 30, best known for playing Fiz Stape in Coronation Street, told MM: “We wanted everybody to be able to enjoy a little piece of Annie’s at home so that’s why we decided to launch the tea shop.
BOTTOMS UP!: The Corrie cast came to show their support
“Our dream was always to do something like this together with our family and we couldn’t really have asked for it to go any better.
“We’re so pleased with how Annies has been received and it’s lovely to see people in here enjoying themselves and enjoying special family occasions.
“If you come in here on a Saturday there’s always people having afternoon tea and babies crawling around and we really welcome that.”
The Bury-born actress will be welcoming a baby of her own into the world in December as she is expecting her first child with long term partner Chris Farr.
BEST PALS: Jennie and Antony have been close friends for many years
The pair where introduced by mutual friend and Corrie co-star Anthony Cotton nine years ago.
But don’t worry about her having to juggle the business and motherhood because she’s already got it covered.
“I’ve told Chris he needs to get a papoose so he can still carry plates with the baby on his back,” Jennie joked.
As for her commitments to Coronation Street, Jennie says she’s in the dark as to what will happen to one of the cobbles’ much loved characters.
TOAST TO SUCCESS: MM’s Sian Broderick poses with Jennie McAlpine
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen with Fiz yet when I leave to have the baby but I’m sure the team will come up with something good,” she told MM.
“I was thinking prison would be a good one but we’ve already had that before so yeah it’s up in the air at the moment but they’ve been really good to me.
“I’m very lucky because I get to treat the business like a hobby because I’ve got such a great support network around me and it’s so great that I can do both but Corrie is my number one.”
