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Lesbian first for Corrie?
Sophie Webster (Brooke Vincent)
Coronation Street is to get its first lesbian character.
Sources told the News of the World that 16-year-old Sophie Webster, played by actress Brooke Vincent, is to come out as a lesbian in the long-running soap.
The character, who has recently become a born-again Christian, will dump her boyfriend Ben and set her sights on a female friend.
The move has been made, sources claim, as a way to make the show, which first aired in 1960, more representative of 21st century society.
If Rosie does come out she will be only the second openly gay character on the famous Street. Gay factory worker Sean Tully, played by Anthony Cotton, first appeared in the programme in 2004.
Coronation Street has lagged behind its rivals EastEnders and Emmerdale in its depiction of gay characters. It did, however, have a first in the character of Hayley Cropper, played by Julie Hesmondhalgh, who was the first transsexual character in a British soap.
