Two sets of twins are on hand to play Weatherfield’s latest addition…
Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley has revealed that the show has cast two sets of twins to play Eva Price’s newborn daughter.
Pregnant Eva will give birth next week, when she goes into labour whilst locked in the bathroom of the cottage she’s been hiding out at in Lymm. The barmaid has lied to friends and family that she’s doing a beauty course in America, but has agreed to give birth in secret and hand over the tot to Toyah Battersby to raise as her own.
Says Catherine: “We’ve got a set of twin girls and a set of twin boys that we’ll be putting in pink clothing. They’re so tiny, because Eva’s baby is premature, and twins are often smaller anyway.
“They were really tiny when we first started filming, and they’re just gorgeous. The girls are called Lexi and Liberty, and they’re the ones we’ve been using the most, and the boy twins are called Eddison and Isaac.
“They’ve been calling me the baby whisperer on set. We were filming scenes with Eddison recently and if he cried, I picked him up before the chaperone did, and he just seemed to quieten down. I tend to sing babies and they tend to shut up.”
In the soap, Toyah and partner Peter Barlow lost their own child earlier in the year when their surrogate had a miscarriage. But Toyah still hasn’t told Peter the news, and he’ll be none the wiser when she turns up on the cobbles with their ‘daughter’, whom they name Susie after his late sister, Susan.
Catherine admits the plot is “out there” but says she’s loved working alongside fellow cast member Georgia Taylor, who plays Toyah.
“As an actress, to get your teeth into something like this is a dream come true,” she says. “I was aware that it was going to be very difficult; I’m a mum myself (to three year old son, Alfie) and I can’t imagine being in that position. But I’ve loved every minute of it, and I absolutely adore working with Georgia; she’s such a strong actress.
“They compliment each other as characters. Toyah’s quite natural and earthy and grounded, whereas Eva’s always got a face full of make up on, and she’s not grounded and is very flighty. They’re chalk and cheese, but they’re very fond of each other, and it just works.”
