​Amanda is currently busy with the promotion of the paperback version of her memoir 'I'm Still Here', ahead of publication on June 18th 2026. A number of radio and TV interviews have been arranged, and she will be appearing at book festivals and other events, some of which are listed below.

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Amanda has just appeared as herself in an 'Amandaland' special for Red Nose Day on BBC1. She was thrilled to join Lucy Punch, star of Amandaland, currently the BBC's number one comedy! Amanda was honoured to be given the opportunity to play a very small part in this year's event which raised an incredible £30 million for the Comic Relief charity. Watch HERE.

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She has also recently written a column for the ipaper's weekend edition, revealing how her desire to continue working, to live life to the full and and to embrace new adventure, remains undimmed at the age of 90. Read HERE. 

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UPCOMING:

- Bad Girls: Larkhill Unlocked. IET Birmingham, Saturday April 11th BOOK HERE

- The London Film Fair, Sunday April 12th BOOK HERE

- The Boswell Book Festival in Scotland. Dumfries House. May 8th-10th. BOOK HERE

- The British Music Hall Society's Day by the Sea at the Royal Hippodrome, Eastbourne, June 6th.  BOOK HERE

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SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS​

Amanda is available to speak at lunches, dinners, and other events. Her speech to mark the publication of her latest memoir I'm Still Here at an Oldie Magazine literary lunch was a huge hit with the audience. You can watch it below. She actively enjoys meeting people, and is happy to mingle with her audiences.

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Contact Simon Robinson: info@inspiremanagment.com 07912 012944

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"It's not a rehearsal!"​

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Enthusiastically encouraged by her mother, Amanda Barrie made her theatrical debut In pantomime at the age of three. Born Shirley Anne Broadbent in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, she attended St Anne's College, St Anne's on Sea, followed by the Arts Educational School, Tring, but was unfortunately expelled from both institutions.   

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Having learned that her brains were almost entirely in her feet, she launched herself on a career as a professional dancer, appearing in pantomimes and summer seasons throughout the UK aged only 13. Equally precociously, she soon became a regular dancer at London's famous Winston's Club, alongside Barbara Windsor, in shows choreographed by Lionel Blair and starring Danny La Rue. She also appeared in revue with Dora Bryan, Ronnie Barker, Stanley Baxter and Betty Marsden. 

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Later she was unexpectedly plucked from the chorus to make her debut as a West End leading lady in A Public Mischief with George Cole and Elspeth March. After a season at the Bristol Old Vic she proceeded to appear at almost all of London's great theatres as the leading lady in a succession of major productions, notably Alan Ayckbourn"s Absurd Person singular with Paul Eddington, Noises Off, Donkey's Years, and Any Wednesday. 

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Television and film through the 1960s and 1970s ranged from playing Hermia in a prestigious BBC production of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream to being a hostess on Double Your Money with Hughie Green, something she feels she did particularly badly. She was also in the very first Morecambe and Wise TV show.  

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Films included Disney's I've Gotta Horse, with Billy Fury, who became her boyfriend and asked her to marry him, and two Carry On films, the first as a taxi driver in Carry On Cabby. Then in 1964 she was the eponymous lead of  Carry On Cleo - a role which, to Amanda's continuing astonishment,  is widely regarded as iconic in cinema history. 

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She first appeared in Coronation Street as Alma in 1982, become a regular in 1987, not long after finishing two years as Mavis in Stepping Out at the Duke of York Theatre.  

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After leaving Corrie in 2001 Amanda swiftly joined Bad Girls, the highly successful TV series abut a woman's prison. She was cast alongside Stephanie Beacham as one of a duo of criminally minded women who were to become cult heroines as the Costa Cons. Benidorm followed, playing  the highly questionable medium Psychic Sue.  

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Amanda has become known as a versatile and formidable actress and continues working to this day. She also believes in moving with the times and has taken part in a number of TV reality shows, beginning with the first series of Hells Kitchen in 2004. This did not prove to be a pleasant experience, and led to her taking a swipe at Gordon Ramsay, who promptly called security. Other reality shows include Celebrity Big Brother, Celebrity Antiques Roadshow, and Celebrity 5 Go Barging.

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The BBC's  Real Marigold Hotel took Amanda to India in 2017  to discover what retirement would be like there. After admitting she had "never been the greatest traveller" she returned gratefully to the UK where she now lives between London and Somerset.​ 

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​On 12 September 2014 she married her long-term partner, crime novelist and former journalist Hilary Bonner, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The Lane means a great deal to Amanda, not least because as a teenaged dancer  she had once knelt on it's front steps and prayed to be given the chance to remain in the world of theatre for the rest of her life. 

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She is often asked to participate in Coronation Street programmes marking anniversaries and milestones. And in the Autumn of last year she joined other cast members touring the country in the Audience with Coronation Street stage show, which played to 2000-plus  audiences at major venues. 

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In the autumn of 2025 Amanda turned 90. This milestone coincided with the publication of her second memoir - 'I'm Still Here - My 90 Years'. So if you'd like to find out more about Amanda's rollercoaster life, you can buy a copy HERE. ​