THANKS to her starring role in Peter Kay's Car Share, Sian Gibson's career is heading in an exciting new direction.

The pair have been friends since university — he is godfather to her three-year-old daughter — and the Bolton comic gave the 39-year-old her first leading role in the hit sitcom.

The comedy became BBC iPlayer's most successful series to premiere as a box set last year and soon found itself with six million viewers, when it moved to BBC One.

Brought up in Mold, North Wales, with a "very normal upbringing", devoid of any actors or comedians as relatives, Sian didn't have starry ambitions as a child.

"I think I'm just a bit of a telly addict really, that's where it's come from," she says with a laugh. "I'm not very sporty, so I never wanted to go out, I just wanted to watch telly.

"I've never really taken myself very seriously, so I never saw myself as a serious actress. I don't claim to be Judi Dench or anything, I just love comedy. I always liked making people laugh in school and doing funny plays, and it just kind of went from there."

After leaving school, she enrolled at Salford University to study media performance. While there, she bonded with course-mates Steve Edge and Peter — who immediately stood out, she recalls.

She said: "We had to put on this play in the first couple of weeks and he just stole the show.

"Everyone knew straight away. Everyone could see his talent immediately and he hasn't changed a bit. Everyone got on with him."

Firm friends since then, the two also have a good working relationship.

"Although he was my boss on Car Share, we had a laugh," says the actress, who lives in North Wales with her gasman husband.

"He's hilarious on set, he's genuinely funny, so it's never an act. Sometimes you get long days on set but he picks everyone up. He's so professional.

"I mean obviously I'm very biased because he's a friend of mine, but everyone he knows says the same. He's a normal, down-to-earth person, if you can be normal with his job."

Although a second series of Car Share has yet to be confirmed, she "hopes" it goes ahead.

"I'm ready," she says, grinning. "I'm ready for when he wants to do it. I can't wait."

Next up is a sizeable part in Catherine Tate's new one-off comedy for Gold, Do Not Disturb.

Gibson plays hard-working hotel employee Sheila who, along with her colleague Neil (Steve), attempts to restore order to their boutique hotel in the face of a raucous stag-do, and an awkward reconciliation between estranged husband and wife, John (Miles Jupp) and Anna (Catherine .

"Although I was chuffed to get the part in Do Not Disturb — it was an absolute dream part — I was scared as well," she admits.

"I knew it was quite scary because no one had seen me before Car Share. Everyone sees me as Kayleigh — and I think that's why people liked Kayleigh, because they took me as a real person.

"I was terrified of doing Do Not Disturb, thinking, 'This could all go horribly wrong'. It was a bit of pressure to be funny, because Sheila wasn't the funniest of characters really, she's the straight man to Steve's comedy character."

She also found herself in an unusual minority among the cast members.

"It was nice to be the only fully-clothed one in the whole programme," explains the actress, who jokes she's planning on "milking" her 40th birthday celebrations this summer. "I don't know if that was a bit of an insult to me or not, but I didn't even undo a button!"

She would "love" Do Not Disturb to turn into a full series, not least because it would mean working with Catherine again.

"Years ago, I wouldn't have dreamt of this, it's a brilliant part and it's a brilliant, brilliant show. It was the chance to work with Catherine Tate, who's always been a big hero to me," she adds.

"I wouldn't for a minute think I could follow Catherine Tate, because she's one of a kind, but just to be on the same show as her is a massive thing for me. For a female in comedy, she's a massive inspiration"

As for the future, she hopes there are more great comedy roles to come.

"There's more for women now and what's great, I think, when you watch telly or you watch films now, there are a lot more 30-plus and 40-plus women in comedy," she says.

"Things have changed a lot lately and hopefully now is a good time to do what I've always wanted to do."

:: Do Not Disturb airs on Gold on Wednesday, January 27