Catherine Tyldesley is calling for a “huge pay rise” for teachers after struggling to home school her five-year-old son Alfie during lockdown.
The former Coronation Street star actress and Strictly Come Dancing star said they have been holding family discos in the kitchen to keep themselves entertained instead.
She told Hello! magazine: “Like our NHS heroes, teachers deserve a huge pay rise.
“Alfie’s teacher has been phenomenal, still there for us every day online and with lesson plans for the class.
“Alfie will happily do his work for his teacher, but when it comes to Mummy it’s a different thing.
“I was joking with her the other day, saying: ‘You know Alfie will return to school illiterate but he will know the full vocal score to Annie and Les Miserables!’”
She said the kitchen disco is “one of Alfie’s favourite times of the day”, but
added that her husband Tom Pitfield struggled to learn ballroom dancing.
She said: “I tried teaching him the Charleston the other day. I wish I had filmed it because it was hysterical.”
However, she said her husband has been responsible for keeping them all fit during the lockdown saying: “I tell him he’s Wigan’s answer to Joe Wicks. He’s fantastic.
“Although it’s nice to have the odd lazy afternoon, I think that when you lose routine, mental health issues could start to creep in.
“To keep me sane every day I like to have a schedule. I find I function better as a person and as a mother if I have structure to my day.”
The full interview is in Hello! out now.