Coronation Street's Catherine Tyldesley praised for 'beautiful' message as she admits feeling 'gutted' on Christmas Day

Catherine Tyldesley has been praised by her fans for posting a 'beautiful' message about Christmas with her family in which she admitted having felt 'gutted' on the big day.

Opening up to her followers on social media, the actress, known for having played Eva Price on ITV's Coronation Street, said she had initially been disappointed after realising she had barely taken any photos with her family.

The TV star posted a photo of her and her two children Alfie, nine, and Iris, two, posing next to the Christmas tree. Sharing some of the details of her family Christmas with her 628,000 followers, Catherine said it was the only photo she managed to get before the children "ran off to play with more toys".

Catherine admitted she was sad at first not to have captured more of the day, but said she later realised why there were not more pictures. She explained: "In the precious time we had together this Christmas we barely took any photographs. We are normally camera snappy all day! Initially I proclaimed to Tom 'there’s hardly any photos! I’m gutted'. But then I realised it’s because we were ‘in’ EVERY single moment - present."

In a heartfelt admission, the actress added: "Whilst photos are indeed precious, presence… that is worth more than a million photos. Capturing images with my heart."

Catherine also posted a video clip of her husband Tom Pitfield holding her daughter as the family waited for Catherine to arrive home on Christmas Eve. Alfie could be heard shouting "I can hear her, mummy's home!" as they all waited by the door.

A final image of Catherine holding back tears as she opened a special gift completed the series. She explained that the moving image was taken by her husband in the lead up to Christmas.

Catherine