Back in July, it was revealed that Dame Maureen will be taking a sabbatical from her role as Evelyn Plummer later this year.

Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy on the red carpet at the Inside Soap Awards on Monday evening (September 30), Dame Maureen promised that the door will be left open for Evelyn to return down the line.

She quipped: “Well the idea is that I don’t get killed off, battered or thrown into Manchester Ship Canal. But I just step back – something happens to me and I go off, but always with the option that I can come back.

“Because you don’t want to lose… I don’t want to lose Evelyn! You know that song, ‘I Know Him So Well’?

“Sometimes the scripts are wonderful and sometimes they’re fine but Evelyn always comes out with the right quip at the right time.”

Asked whether she still enjoys her time on the show, Dame Maureen replied: “I love it, yeah. Actors like to have a family around them. It’s nice to walk into a Manchester building and have someone say: ‘Oh hello, Maureen, did you have a nice weekend?’ I like that.”

Dame Maureen was speaking following the news that she had won the Best Comedy Performance prize at the Inside Soap Awards.

Impressively, this is the fourth consecutive year that she has taken the award home.

Reflecting on this year’s victory, Dame Maureen added: “It’s an audience award, so they’re voting for Evelyn Plummer, not really for Maureen Lipman!

“That’s the way it should be. She’s a good character for Corrie. She’s classic Corrie – and she doesn’t murder anybody and she doesn’t do autopsies on people.

“She’s just not very kosher, you know – she’s just a bit belligerent. People like that because everybody really wants to be belligerent but they haven’t got the guts!”

When Dame Maureen’s Corrie sabbatical was first announced in July, a spokesperson for the show told Digital Spy: “Dame Maureen is taking a sabbatical from Coronation Street towards the end of the year. We look forward to seeing her back on the cobbles in 2025.”

The Inside Soap Awards took place in London and saw Corrie win six prizes on the night, including the coveted Best Soap gong.