Kym Marsh holds hands with Alison King 'all the time'

Kym Marsh holds hands with Alison King and doesn\'t see the issue with friends being close.

The 43-year-old former soap star - who plays Michelle Connor in \'Coronation Street\' - doesn\'t think it matters if pals getting up close and personal, and she suggested there is a double standard when it comes to friendships between men and women.

Writing in her OK magazine column, Kym said: "I\'ve got loads of male friends who are genuinely just mates and I\'d give them a cuddle without thinking anything of it.

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"I hold hands with Alison King all the time and sit on her knee too for no reason. Is that okay because she\'s female?"

Meanwhile, the former Hear\'Say singer revealed she and \'Corrie\' star Beverley Callard - who plays Liz MacDonald on the ITV show - always struggled to keep a straight face during more serious scenes.

She admitted: "If we ever had a scene where we had to deliver bad news we couldn\'t stop laughing.

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"It was really inappropriate. She\'d say, \'Ooh, I\'ve gone all hot now!\' We used to get badly told off!"

And just like her friend, Beverley is leaving the cobbles.

Kym - whose final scenes will air this week - added: "[She] rung me to tell me her news about leaving \'Corrie\' next year. Everyone will miss her. She took me under her wing right from my first day so we\'ve always been very close."

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She also hopes they can share the screen - or stage - again in the future, while they\'ll still be keeping in touch either way.

She said: "I hope it means we\'ll get to meet up more often for a few sambucas! We might even work together again, which would be lovely."