Blackman joins Corrie cast

Former Bond girl Honor Blackman is joining long-running soap Coronation Street, it emerged tonight.

The actress, who played Pussy Galore alongside Sean Connery in 1964’s 007 classic Goldfinger, is to join the show’s cast in September.

She will play flirty pensioner Rula Romanoff who gets her claws into Street drip Norris Cole.

Her arrival comes as a shock to Norris’s boss at the Kabin newsagents, Rita Sullivan, an old rival from her days as a cabaret singer.

A show insider told The Sun: “Rula was Rita’s pal but they became enemies. Rula was a bit of a man-eater and she proves she has still got it when she flirts with Norris. He is completely taken with her when she walks in the Kabin.

“He immediately becomes her little lapdog – she does nothing to discourage him. It’s a hilarious storyline with an unexpected twist.”

A spokesperson for ITV said: “I can confirm that Honor will be playing the character Rula Romanoff.”