ITV Coronation Street legend looks unrecognisable as she steps out after split

legend looks worlds away from soap motormouth Cilla Battersby-Brown as she steps out having .

The actress - who played the brash resident on the show - has gone public with her new man and confirmed she is dating carpet fitter Gareth Wale, announcing her new romance online. The actress with Kenny Linden last year.

She was spotted smoking a cigarette and takes her dog for a walk outside the Empire Theatre in Liverpool where Wendi is performing in Sister Act The Musical. Taking a well-earned break, the star will no doubt have caught up with new man Gareth as she held her phone to her ear after they went official this weekend.

The 56-year-old quickly became a soap icon when she took the role of gobby Cilla in Corrie in 2003, where she starred in several comical storylines until her first departure in 2007. Fans of the long-running soap opera will remember how Cilla bid farewell to her son Chesney Brown to enjoy the bright lights of Las Vegas.

Wendi briefly reprised the role of Cilla in 2014 for six weeks before saying goodbye again. Since leaving the soap behind, Wendi has appeared in multiple touring productions and pantomimes across the country and has been back on our TV screens regularly after signing up to star in Doctors.

Kenny and the actress went through seven attempts of IVF over eight years before the she finally became a mum. The Coronation Street star revealed the couple were hoping to give Gracie a sibling but it wasn't meant to be.

She said: "We did look into adoption after we had our daughter Gracie because she was an IVF baby and it took seven attempts to have her. Then we had two more attempts after her to have another child, and then we gave up.

"So we discussed it and we thought about it, but again it was that thing because of the jobs we had – we were both actors at the time – we just thought it wasn’t really something we felt we would be able to give our full attention to.

“You do consider all options, but then we thought instead of worrying about what we haven’t got, let’s enjoy what we have got. It took such a long time to have her, let’s just enjoy life with her now." Gracie has followed in her mum's footsteps and is an actress herself while Kenny was an actor before becoming a sports masseuse.

Speaking to last year, she opened up on switching shows and said: "It’s pretty similar as in there’s so much television to make in so little time, so the schedules are exactly the same. I was used to all that. Because we have a lot less regulars, we’re all busier, which I quite like, I’m a bit of a workaholic so I am really enjoying it."

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