'The men called her condemned meat': Coronation Street's Beverley Callard, 63, hits out at sexist co-stars after hearing vile comments about an older actress during filming

Coronation Street star Beverley Callard has recalled the moment she overheard her male co-stars brand an older actress 'condemned meat' during filming.

The actress, 63, who played Liz McDonald on the soap from 1989 until 2020, said she heard the vile comment as the actress, who she didn't name, was about to film a passionate love scene.

Beverley recalled the incident as she insisted soap cast members should be 'helping each other' instead of trying to compete, adding she has no plans to ever return to the Corrie cobbles.

Speaking at A Girls Night In with author Melanie Blake, Beverley recalled the comments she overheard by her male colleagues during filming years earlier.

While Beverley did specify which scene she was referring to, she said: 'The man and the woman were both in their 60s and they were about to go into a kissing scene. Some of the men in the Green Room, where all the actors sit, said about the woman: ''Oh dear, condemned meat.''

'I've heard producers say: ''Oh no, she's past her sell-by date now.'' I think more often than not, in any mini-series or film, you will have the husband who is 55, with a 30 year-old wife.

'It's so ageist. If they did that the other way round, with a 60 year-old woman with a 35 year-old husband, she would instantly be called a cougar.'

Beverley recalled the experience while discussing whether she experience any vicious rivalries on the soap, admitting she witnessed an older actress tell wardrobe staff to 'put a cardigan' on a younger star.

The star went onto reveal that the Covid lockdown made her decide she'd never return to her role as Liz on Corrie.

Beverley's confirmed earlier this month that she has 'shut the door' on Coronation Street 'forever'.

The actress has played Liz on and off since 1989, but confirmed she would be saying goodbye to Weatherfield for good in 2019. 

The soap favourite has confirmed she has no plans to ever reprise the role again, and has given ITV bosses permission to kill off her character. 

Speaking to the Sunday Express magazine, she said: 'It was a massive decision for me to make, but I believe I did it for the right reasons. I felt Liz had run her course. I'd hate to cheat any fans... I felt like she'd lost her way.'   

'Sadly, you can't decide your own storylines and since I'm not going to film an exit they could even kill me off-screen. If they do I'll accept it with grace. I've thought long and hard about this and I know that this time I've shut the door forever.' 

Beverley won't get the chance to film an exit for Liz amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, and although she 'toyed with the idea' of going back to the cobbles one more time, she's now 'sure' that her time on the show is over.

She said: 'I was actually toying with the idea of going back to film an exit, but I felt that they wouldn't be able to do Liz justice under the current Covid restrictions.' 

Since leaving Corrie, the soap star enjoyed a stint on the 2020 series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in Wales late last year.