A quick chat with Helen Worth and Michelle Keegan
Coronation Street stars Helen Worth (Gail) and Michelle Keegan (Tina) talk about their dramatic week ahead... So Tina. You get a proposal from Jason this week. Why all the tears? "I don’t think Tina even thinks of the wedding from the moment they get engaged because she’s worrying about her dad. It’s heartbreaking really because Joe’s the only family she’s got. Hence the tears." Will you miss Reece Dinsdale who plays Joe? "Terribly! I was so close to Reece and now he’s gone, it actually feels like he’s gone missing or something. I’m used to him being around. I was really upset when he went, he is so nice." And for you Helen. It looks like Gail is going to be let down by a man again? "She just can’t comprehend why anyone would come up with such a hair-brained idea as faking their own death and she is terrified. Once again she has married someone she doesn’t really know!" So why does she cover things up? "I suppose when you’ve lived through as many problems as she has you need to try and stay positive or you would go mad. The problem is, everything she’s done to try and cover up his disappearance looks like she is trying to cover her guilt, so she is going to find it a difficult situation to get out of. If his body is found, she will be shocked, devastated and suspected of murder!" And what will Tina’s reaction be? Michelle: "Tina’s always seen Gail as a second mum and she’s found in her someone she can trust and confide in. When Tina eventually finds out she thinks, 'I didn’t know her at all', and that she’s lost her as well." So there will be plenty of big scenes between you in the future? Michelle: "Which is great. When I first joined Corrie I was totally taken aback and used to get really nervous, it was horrible. But Helen is so lovely. She took me under her wing and you learn so much from the actors who’ve been around for so many years. You stop feeling intimidated when you get to know someone and start speaking to them on a personal basis and see that actually they’re just human." So what top tips have you picked up since joining the cast two years ago? "To make sure I learn my lines a week in advance and be more organised! I can speak to Helen about anything. It’s weird here because there’s no divide. Everyone is one group. It’s really cliched to say, but it is like a family."
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.