Coronation Street’s Michael Le Vell pays tear-jerking tribute to Hilda Ogden actress Jean Alexander on Good Morning Britain
Actor opened up about what Jean Alexander was like both on and off camera on Monday's show
CORONATION Street's Michael Le Vell has paid a touching tribute to Hilda Ogden actress Jean Alexander.
The star passed away peacefully in hospital on Friday, just three days after celebrating her 90th birthday.
Her death sparked a flurry of tributes from the soap and TV world, with many praising Jean as one of the greatest soap stars in history, having played the iconic Hilda in the ITV soap for 23 years.
And on Monday, fellow Corrie star Michael - who plays Kevin Webster on the show - added his thoughts on the late actress during a chat with Good Morning Britain.
Speaking to hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, the 51-year-old said: "I was her lodger, it was one of the proudest moments of my TV life when I found out I was going to move in with Hilda Ogden.
"It was surreal. From watching it growing up to suddenly being told I was going to live with the most iconic character in the world.
"Not only was she a great character but she was a lovely, lovely lady too."
Fiesty Hilda was instantly recognisable thanks to her curlers and hair net appearance, but away from the cameras, Michael revealed Jean could go about her business under the radar.
He added: "She was such an elegant, polite lady. Away from the curlers you wouldn’t recognise her at all.
"She was such a private lady. She was the most professional lady you would ever want to work with."
Jean never married, choosing to focus on her career as an actress instead, and Michael remembered how much he enjoyed watching her work as a budding actor.
He said: "I was still quite young and still learning, even when I wasn't in a scene with her I would go to the studio just to watch her.
"No one can teach you that in drama school, the only way you can pick it up is by watching and learning from the best - and she was the best."