Catherine Tyldesley has got candid about what she finds the most ‘terrifying’ about being a parent, as she voiced her fears about children being taken advantage of.

The actress, 42, returned to Coronation Street last month to reprise her role as Eva Price and is already embroiled in several hard-hitting storylines.

And in a new interview, she admitted that one has hit harder than the rest, with her onscreen step-son Will, 16, being secretly groomed by his female sports coach.

Catherine and her husband Tom Pitfield, 38, are the proud parents of Alfie, 10, and three-year-old daughter Iris.

And with her own son nearing his teenage years, the soap star confessed to Fabulous magazine that she has developed a whole new slew of parenting fears.

Speaking about the grooming storyline, she explained: ‘It has cut deep for all of us, especially with having children. It’s terrifying… It happens a lot. That’s why I will be letting Alfie watch it, because we’ve got to help protect kids. It’s really important.

‘From Alfie’s age onwards, you put your trust in these people, in somebody who is perhaps a teacher, and kids don’t necessarily know what the boundaries are, and what is right and what is wrong.’

While she added that she’d also gotten Alfie to watch the critically-acclaimed and groundbreaking show, Adolescence, which illustrated to parents the dangers of misogyny and online radicalization on children and how it can lead to violence.

After watching the Netflix series and Channel 4 documentary, Swiped: The School That Banned Smartphones, Catherine said found it ‘terrifying’ that kids were going to bed with their phones, with their parents unaware of what they were looking at.

She said: ‘Alfie has a mobile phone, but it has a tracking device on it and all he can do is make calls, really. He’s not allowed on social media and he doesn’t have the phone when he is on his own – he’s only allowed it if he’s going somewhere.

‘I do think Will’s grooming will massively highlight what’s going on, and a lot of young people watch the show.’

Catherine also got candid discussing Corrie’s representation of weight-loss jabs, as seen with Bethany Platt’s storyline.

She stressed out the importance of the topic to be covered in soaps, admitting that when she was younger she ‘felt a lot of pressure to look a certain way’ and as a result would crash-diet.

However, she said now she was older, she’d learned to respect her body and give it what it needs, as she wanted to set a good example for her two children.

She said: ‘I’ve got to let Iris see that food helps. I really try to educate her and Alfie on food and that, in any walk of life, whatever job you do, you’re not going to be able to function properly without it.’

The soap favourite quit Coronation Street back in 2018, and this year it was announced that Eva will return later on in the year after seven years away, with scenes airing the past October.

During her time on the serial, Eva famously had a relationship with Aidan Connor (Shayne Ward) but he had an affair with Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon).

As an act of revenge when she found out, Eva faked a pregnancy and spent Aidan’s savings on a pink Range Rover.

The pair later become engaged but Maria burst into the wedding to expose the truth about the fake pregnancy.

A short time later, Eva discovered that she was actually pregnant with Aidan’s baby but agreed to give the child to her half-sister Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor).

Soon after that, Aidan took his own life in 2017, and Eva became attached to baby Susie and left the cobbles in the back of a taxi with her.

Catherine then starred in the short-lived sitcom Scarborough and played a leading role in Bonnie & Clyde: The Musical, but it was cancelled halfway through the tour amid poor ticket sales.

The soap star reunited with X Factor winner Shayne on The Good Ship Murder, which began airing its second series in January.

News of Catherine’s comeback comes shortly after she admitted she would ‘never say never’ to a return.

She told Prima magazine: ‘Coronation Street feels like forever ago, but I always look back with such great fondness

‘But if they approached me with an amazing storyline and the time was right, of course, I’d go back. So it’s always a case of never say never.’