Nicola Thorp says "timing" is important in relationships.

Nicola Thorp

Nicola Thorp

The 'Coronation Street' actress has opened up about her skepticism about horoscopes and astrology, and she explained while she understands that people turn to thinks like "faith" to find comfort, she suggested life experience can be just as valuable.

Writing in her column for the Metro.co.uk, she said: "People often turn to faith and horoscopes when they are feeling at their most vulnerable and nothing makes humans feel more emotionally exposed than matters of the heart.

"In my years of singledom I have accrued a wealth of dating data.

"The more experience I have, the more I learn to appreciate the importance of timing in relationships but I'm not convinced that includes the exact time you were born."

The 30-year-old soap star - whose character Nicola Rubinstein left the cobbles this year - decided to try out astrology app The Pattern, and she admitted the accuracy of the platform made her "unsettled".

She added: "Detailed behavioural patterns, bad relationship habits, emotional blocks - in a matter of seconds it had told me things about myself that my therapist took months to unpack. "I was as unsettled as I was intrigued. But how? I don't have enough self-importance to believe that my fate is somehow written in the stars, nor am I credulous enough to think it is written in the binary coding of my iPhone.

"Yet my response to the The Pattern's evaluation was undeniably visceral and transcended rationale."

Meanwhile, Nicola has previously admitted being in the public eye makes trying to find a man much harder because potential suitors often only want to speak to her to get a selfie for their gran.

She said: "I've used dating sites in the past and they can be brilliant, especially if you're busy working. I've met some really interesting people even though it might not have worked out romantically, we've become friends.

"It's funny because I've been out recently and have had a good-looking man look at me in a bar, and then I'd pluck up the courage and confidence to go and say hello, and I'll get, 'Aren't you Phelan's daughter?'

"And I'm like, 'Damn it! I thought you were going to ask for my number but you just want a photo to show your nan.' "