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"Coronation Street star Michelle Collins has named Pat Phoenix&amp;#039;s Elsie Tanner as her all-time favourite TV character. The Weatherfield actress, who plays Rovers Return landlady Stella Price, described Corrie as a &amp;quot;female show&amp;quot; in an interview with Metro.   &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s a strong female lead in a female show. Corrie is very matriarchal; the women are always painted as strong, while a lot of the men are quite hapless and a bit weak,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;Elsie was one of the original female icons that came out of the kitchen-sink drama. Life was hard for her, she always had broken relationships but she was gutsy and feisty.&amp;quot; Collins added: &amp;quot;I hate the phrase but she was a &amp;#039;tart with a heart&amp;#039;.&amp;quot; The 51-year-old, who formerly starred in EastEnders, also reserved praise for US sitcoms Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory. Last week, a report emerged that Collins&amp;#039;s Corrie character Stella will embark on a fling with Jason Grimshaw. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/coronation-street/news/a433067/coronation-street-michelle-collins-reveals-elsie-tanner-inspiration/>