Coronation Street fans have said they ‘didn’t know’ Georgia Taylor’s real name until her co-star shared a hilarious filming anecdote away from the cobbles.

The actress is best known for playing Toyah Habeeb – nee Battersby – in the ITV soap. She first arrived on the cobbles at just 17 years old, back in 1997, along with Janice and Les Battersby and Les’s daughter Leanne.

Their arrival on the famous street came after it was announced the ‘family from hell’ were to be introduced to the hit soap to stir up some trouble in Weatherfield.

Then, in September 2016 after a 13-year absence, Toyah’s comeback to the cobbles was announced and she made an explosive return at Christmas when it was revealed that she had left her husband of five years Toby Chapman for Peter Barlow, Leanne’s ex-husband.

The rest, as they say, is history and Toyah has had a rollercoaster nine years back on the cobbles, with Toyah most recently betraying her sister and having an affair with her partner, Nick Tilsley, with the pair now in a relationship and running the Bistro.

It was Ben Price, who plays Nick, who was sharing a story about a recent day filming together on the podcast, On the Sofa, which he co-hosts with Corrie pals Jack P Shepherd and Colson Smith.

He explained how he accidentally ‘sacked’ people – in character – from the Bistro as he needed to mime over a scene and jokingly told one of the actors playing the Bistro staff to go and ‘sack’ some of the others in a bid to make Georgia laugh, only to be asked what he had said.

As he recalled the story, Ben referred to Georgia as ‘Claire’ and it took some by surprise. One asked: “Who’s Claire? Toyah is played by Georgia Taylor,” to which another fan replied: “Her real name is Claire x.” Another also said: “I had absolutely no idea!”

The soap star’s birth name was Claire Jackson – but that all changed when she joined Corrie back in 1997. “It’s not that I planned this to happen,” she previously told the Mirror.

“But when I started with Coronation Street I had to register with Equity, the actors’ union, and at the time there seemed to be a hell of a lot of Claires so I had to think of something else.”

She added: “I couldn’t tell you where I got Georgia from, other than I liked it, but my grandad’s surname was Taylor and he passed away not long before I got the part.

“As a teenager I didn’t really think the consequences through of opting for a completely different name, but it’s meant there’s been quite a bit of confusion over the years. At this point I’ll pretty much answer to anything!”