SHE is one of the sexiest women on TV – but at home Suranne Jones admits she acts like a “nana” who loves nothing more than having a bath and being tucked up in bed by 8pm.
The 47-year-old actress, who is now starring in Netflix drama Hostage, is used to getting up at 5am as part of her filming schedule and is often shattered by 4pm.
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And much to the amusement of her husband Laurence Akers, Suranne even turns down the chance to eat at 8pm on holiday because it is too late for her.
She said: “I’ve gone to Mallorca — it’s really lovely.
“Laurence would say, ‘Maybe eight o’clock,’ and I’d give him the eye and go, ‘Too late. What about 6.30? I need to be in bed at eight.’
“I’m such a nana.
“I love to get in bed at nine o’clock, eight sometimes.
“Work-wise, if I get up at five, then I’m in at half six, seven.
“You get into a rhythm.
“I get back into the house, straight in the bath.
“I need the bath as well, because that’s part of a sleep routine, like a massive baby.
‘Karen McDonald was a lunatic’
“Us ladies like that structure.
“I feel safe in the bath and safe in bed.
“I can listen to a podcast or watch something.
“That’s my time.”
To speed things up, she even has food at “the side of the bath” so she can eat while she soaks.
She explained: “I’ve been known to have a Sunday roast in the bath delivered by my husband.
“He would happily go, ‘Do you want it in the bath?’”
Suranne grew up in Chadderton, Greater Manchester and now lives in north London.
She found fame on Coronation Street in 2000 at just 21, playing a scheming, loudmouth knicker stitcher in Mike Baldwin’s factory for four years.
It led to a National Television Award for Most Popular Actress in 2004 and she twice won a British Soap Award for Best Actress.
Suranne went on to star in police drama Scott & Bailey, crime series Unforgiven, BBC psychological thrillers Vigil and Doctor Forster — which earned her a Bafta in 2016 — and historical true-life lesbian tale Gentleman Jack.
I’ve been known to have a Sunday roast in the bath delivered by my husband. He would happily go, ‘Do you want it in the bath?
In Hostage, which hit No1 on Netflix soon after its release, she plays a British Prime Minister dealing with the kidnap of her medic husband.
But it was on Corrie that she picked up some of her best acting skills.
Suranne learned to cry on cue — a technique she now uses when she wants to win an argument with her husband, scriptwriter and ex-magazine editor Laurence, 55.
Suranne said: “You just basically keep your eyes open for a long time and don’t blink.
“You have to feel a bit of sadness as well.
“For Corrie, that was a great trick because there were so many episodes.
“Karen McDonald was an absolute f***ing lunatic, so she was always shouting or crying.”
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Mum-of-one Suranne has been in the public eye for 25 years and admits that she often feels old on set.
She told Andy Goldstein and Lisa Snowdon on the podcast We’re Not Getting Any Younger: “I do work with a lot of young actors and I don’t understand what the f***k they’re talking about a lot of the time.
“So then I do feel old.
“And I have a nine year old who calls me ‘cringe’ a lot.”
But Suranne, who won the Sexiest Female award at the Inside Soap Awards in 2004, is keen on looking younger.
She has anti-ageing injectable treatment Profhilo to stimulate her own collagen and is considering Morpheus8 — which makes tiny holes in the skin to send radio frequencies into the face.
Suranne said: “I don’t think I’ll ever do Botox because I’m too frightened. It’ll be me that it goes wrong for.
“But I would do Morpheus8. Profhilo I’ve done. But that’s about as far as I’ll go.
When I was younger, I loved a party. And then I didn’t drink for about four years when my mum was poorly. Now I can do a couple of champagnes
“With Profhilo it’s like just a drink for the skin.
“I will dabble, but I’m also a bit scared. Also, I can get all the jobs as we get older. And I’ll just play the nanas, which I’m happy to do.”
Suranne has always been open about her wellbeing. She pulled out of the West End play Frozen in May 2018 due to the toll of her mum’s death and later revealed she had suffered a breakdown.
In 2021 her father died and for a short while she needed medication.
When her menopause began at 43, she had no idea what was happening until she spoke to an expert and her husband.
‘Grateful’
Suranne told the podcast: “I just thought I was doing too much.”
She is also “grateful” women can now easily discuss the menopause.
Suranne admits: “I’ll talk about it till the cows come home. I’m like, ‘Listen, I’m sweating’.
“I need a wee all the time. I’m like, ‘I’m tired. I can’t remember my lines’.”
And her life is very different to the old days.
She said with a laugh: “When I was younger, I loved a party. And then I didn’t drink for about four years when my mum was poorly. Now I can do a couple of champagnes.
“I did smoke. God, I smoked when I was 13 on the bus.”
At school Suranne, whose real name is Sarah, was bullied by other kids who saw her on TV and thought she was “showing off” — but she is grateful she didn’t have the pressure of social media in those days.
She revealed she has taken a break from Instagram and removed the app from her phone to stop herself scrolling, adding: “I like to take time out.”
And when she isn’t in the public eye, she is often amazed she gets recognised.
She said: “It still surprises me.
“But when I see people on the street who are famous, then I’m like, oh, of course, people do that to me.”
