Coronation Street icon Beverly Callard announces all-new soap role as character’s long-lost mother

Former Coronation Street star Beverley Callard has landed a new soap role in RTÉ’s Fair City.

Beverley Callard, known for her role as Liz McDonald on the British soap Coronation Street, is now appearing on the Irish soap Fair City as Lilly, the mother of Gwen Connolly (played by Emily Lamey).

Gwen joined the town of Carrigstown in 2023, and until recently, very little was known about her background or family. Now, details are starting to emerge.

RTE announced on its Instagram page that Beverley Callard has joined the cast of Carrigstown, sharing a photo of her as her character, Lilly.

Fans will be excited to hear that a popular actor is joining the cast of Fair City! She’ll be playing Gwen’s mother, who was previously thought to be lost. Be sure to tune in to see her first appearance on February 19th.

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Fair City’s Executive Producer, Brigie de Courcy, revealed on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland (according to Entertainment Daily) that the character of Lilly was two years in the making.

Courcy announced that Callard started filming her role this week and will first appear as Lilly on February 19th, 2026.

Callard began playing the role of Liz in Corrie on-and-off between 1989 and 2020.

Although her departure was originally planned as a dramatic storyline, the show was paused due to the pandemic. As a result, her final scenes couldn’t be filmed, and her character left the show without an on-screen exit.

Instead, her son Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) explained that Liz had gone back to Spain.

Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

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Molly MossTrends Writer

Molly Moss writes about the newest happenings in TV, movies, and other entertainment for TopMob. She has a master’s degree in journalism and has also contributed to major publications like The Guardian, The Times, and The Sun Online.

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2026-01-14 19:12