TORONTO — An actress hired to play a young teenager on British drama series Coronation Street has been fired after it was revealed she is older than producers were led to believe.
Katie Redford had been cast as Bethany, the 14-year-old daughter of Sarah Platt. In announcing her casting last week, broadcaster ITV said she is 19 — but fans started tweeting evidence she is, in fact, two months shy of her 26th birthday.
An online acting resume revealed Redford was born in March 1989.
After being hired on Coronation Street, Redford’s Twitter handle “@katieredford89” was changed to “Katieredfordtlc.”
A spokesperson for ITV said Monday: “Coronation Street have taken the decision to recast the part of Bethany Platt.”
Redford had not yet filmed any scenes.
Her agent Joanne McLintock told the Daily Mail the actress is “very upset.”
McLintock took responsibility. “ITV did not know her age,” she said. “We were at fault as we let her go in there without the producers knowing her age.”
McLintock told BBC Radio 1 it wasn’t Redford’s idea “to audition as a 19-year-old.”
In addition to being 11 years older than the character she was hired to play, Redford is only six years younger than Tina O’Brien, who plays Bethany’s mother.
The Bethany character was last seen on Coronation Street eight years ago, when she moved to Milan. She was played by child actors Mia Cookson and twins Amy and Emily Walton.
Coronation Street has been airing since 1960.
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