Coronation Street star Maureen Lipman has admitted that she has been left "really sad" over the death of her character Evelyn's dog Cerberus.
In emotional scenes airing next week, Evelyn is forced to have her beloved pet put to sleep after he is diagnosed with kidney failure, brought on by him eating a cake off the floor at Roy's (David Neilson) cafe.
"It all starts with Cerberus not wanting his dinner," said Lipman. "Evelyn dismisses it as an upset stomach, then she goes to the vet and they find that his kidneys are failing.
"She still says she wants a second opinion, this is ridiculous, she doesn't want to believe it! He's only nine."
On filming Cerberus's final scene, she continued: "It's really sad. I had to say goodbye to my real dog on Zoom so it wasn't much of a stretch to imagine this.
"I really liked Cerberus, Boss is his [real] name and he's a lovely dog, seriously sweet-natured and an incredibly beautiful hound. Gorgeous.
"It was as if he had an inkling that he was being written out! He was a bit subdued for a couple of days. He was valiant and that made it even sadder."
Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
> Picture Spoilers: Next week on Coronation Street (March 20-24)
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