Rita, Sue and Bob Too! tour: Helen Flanagan joins Jake Quickenden for 2027

The cast of the 2025 touring production. Photo: David Munn.

Former Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan is joining the 2027 tour of Andrea Dunbar's cult classic comedy, playing Michelle opposite Jake Quickenden, who returns as Bob. The play tours 11 venues from 16 April to 4 July 2027, opening at the Theatre Royal in St Helens.

Produced by Regal Entertainments Ltd and directed by Chantelle Joseph, it is the second nationwide tour for the production, following a spring 2025 run that sold out at venues across the country. Further casting is still to be announced.

Helen Flanagan

Born in Bury in Greater Manchester, Flanagan is best known for playing Rosie Webster in Coronation Street from 2000 to 2012 and again from 2017 to 2018. She came seventh in I'm a Celebrity in 2012 and returned for I'm a Celebrity South Africa in 2023, and her other screen work includes nurse Kitty Brompton in Holby City and Celebs Go Dating.

On stage she played Catherine in the 30th anniversary production of Shelagh Stephenson's The Memory of Water at the Bolton Octagon and the Liverpool Everyman.

Jake Quickenden

Quickenden first found fame on The X Factor, was runner up in I'm a Celebrity and won Dancing on Ice in 2018 with Vanessa Bauer. His acting work includes Richie Reeves in Jamie Johnson FC and Woody in Hollyoaks, and he has toured in Hair, Footloose and The Full Monty before playing Bob in 2025.

What the director says

Joseph said: “I'm thrilled to announce the wonderful Helen Flanagan is joining the cast of [the play], which is due to embark on its second nationwide tour next spring. I know she will bring real energy and brilliant comic timing to the role of Michelle.”

She added: “[The play] was a huge success for us when we took it on tour in 2025, and I can promise audiences up and down the country are going to love Andrea Dunbar's classic comedy just as much as we do.”

The story

Set in 1980s Yorkshire, Dunbar's gritty and very funny tale follows teenage friends Rita and Sue, who begin an affair with Bob, a married man. Michelle is Bob's long suffering wife. The story was famously filmed in 1987, and this stage version comes with a soundtrack of 80s hits.

Tour dates

• Theatre Royal, St Helens, 16 to 24 April
• Harrogate Theatre, 27 April to 1 May
• The Old Savoy, Northampton, 4 to 8 May
• New Theatre Royal, Lincoln, 12 to 15 May
• Forum Theatre, Billingham, 18 to 22 May
• Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, 24 to 29 May
• St George's Hall, Bradford, 2 to 5 June
• The Atkinson, Southport, 9 to 12 June
• Malvern Theatres, 15 to 19 June
• Stockport Plaza, 22 to 26 June
• Liverpool Olympia, 30 June to 4 July

When does the tour start and finish?

It opens on Friday 16 April 2027 and finishes on Sunday 4 July 2027, with most stops running for a week.

More to read

Look back at our review from the Royal Court and our report on the 2017 tour casting, or plan a trip with our guide to Liverpool theatre.