Coronation Street and Emmerdale star Kathryn Apanowicz has sadly died aged 64 after a long illness.

The soap star was the partner of the late presenter Richard Whiteley, penning a book about their lives together. Kathryn was best known for playing two characters in Emmerdale - Dezzy Bell and Helen Ackroyd - for 24 episodes, as well as portraying Carol Starkey in an episode of rival soap Coronation Street.

She also played Mags for 58 episodes of EastEnders, as well as making appearances in Hollyoaks, Bugsy Malone and The Lenny Hentry Show.

Tributes have been flooding in for the late actress, with former Calendar host Christa Ackroyd branding her a "lovely friend" in a sweet social media message. She penned: "Reunited with her beloved Richard. I will miss you so much my lovely friend. What adventures we had. The world will always be a duller place without you..."

Their co-star Ian White also added: "Very sad news tonight about friend and former colleague Kathryn Apanowicz." While one fan wrote: "I was sad to hear that the presenter and actress Kathryn Apanowicz has passed away. I remember Kathryn's days in EastEnders and her appearing in a charity show in Leicester back in the late 80s. RIP, Kathryn."

Someone else said: "Sorry to hear that Kathryn Apanowicz has died. She was a local girl - from Horsforth - and one of the few people on tv from Leeds when I was growing up, so she felt like one of ours. A really lovely woman. RIP."

Kathryn's husband Richard sadly passed away in 2005 after being taken to hospital with pneumonia. Though he recovered from the illness, doctors found he was having heart problems and Richard underwent an emergency endocarditis surgery, sadly dying two days later.

He was 61 years old. Richard had diabetes and had suffered from asthma since he was a child.

His Countdown co-star Carol Vorderman paid tribute to him at the time, writing: "The clock stopped too soon. I adored him and I always will. I'm privileged to have known him, to have been so close to him and to have been supported and loved by him. He never let us down. He never disappointed. He loved Countdown. He was Countdown and Countdown was him.

"We have had thousands of messages from our Countdown family. We have even had a message saying Mass is being said for him in Ireland today. He was loved by millions, as every day he filled the screen and made us laugh. Every time we were in the studio he made us roll around with laughter."