Sarah Lancashire: I'm the same as any working mum

Sarah Lancashire has defended working mothers, insisting it shouldn't be an issue if women decide to have children and a career.

The former Coronation Street star - who has three sons, two from her first marriage to Gary Hargreaves and one with her husband of seven years, Peter Salmon - insists balancing work and family is just part of life.

Sarah said: "My older sons are grown up and I've been doing it for 22 years, so I do it the same way as any working mum with children - I get on with it."

"It's interesting that this is a question you don't pose to men, only women. Children are part of the natural pattern of life. For centuries people have been having children and going to work. You get on with it, that's what life's about."

In new BBC drama All The Small Things Sarah, 44, plays Esther, a housewife whose choir conductor husband leaves her, so she starts a rival choir of her own. In the first episode Esther's husband berates her for not following her own career choices in life.

But Sarah says: "I think going to university, getting married, having children, and then having the choice to stay at home to raise those children is a very valid one for women and they shouldn't be castigated for it. It's a great job. Not many men would do it."

All The Small Things starts on BBC One on Tuesday, March 31.

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