Coronation Street star reveals strict on-set rules as cast returns from coronavirus break

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Coronation Street
(Image credit: ITV)

Andy Whyment has opened up about going back to filming at Coronation Street next week...

Coronation Street star Andy Whyment has revealed that life on the soap's set will be very different from now on.

The Salford born actor, who is best known for portraying the role of Kirk Sutherland on the ITV soap, chatted to Lorraine Kelly on today's instalment of Good Morning Britain, telling her all about the strict new filming rules.

Andy Whyment Coronation Street

Andy joined Lorraine to talk about filming at Coronation Street starting again on the 9th June (Picture: ITV)

Coronation Street, Emmerdale, EastEnders and various other well-loved soaps were forced to halt filming back in March when the UK went into lockdown, amid the coronavirus health crisis.

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Now, TV production has been given the green light to resume filming on the condition that tight precautions and social distancing measures are in place in order to help in the fight against the pandemic.

Admitting that things will be rather different at work, Andy told Lorraine: "We're going to be going back on the 9th June... fantastic news.

Andy Whyment Coronation Street

Andy told Lorraine what he has been doing to pass the time in lockdown (Picture: ITV)

"We've had 10 weeks off now... It's great news for everyone because I think everyone at first was a bit worried that we might have to go off air but thankfully we can go back and we can get back to filming again."

Admitting that he won't be able to come into close contact with his on-screen wife, played by Lisa George, Andy said, "There's definitely going to be no kissing scenes but it's going to be kind of weird because if Kirk's walking down the street with Beth.

"Usually we'd link each other's arms or hold hands but there's going to be none of that now so it's going to be different.

Kirk and Tyrone in Coronation Street

Andy can't wait to get back to playing Kirk again (Picture: ITV) (Image credit: Andrew Boyce)

"We have to have an induction before we go back filming, just to see what the new system's going to be like. I think there's a one way system and each director's going to just stay in one studio and stuff like that.

"It's going to take some getting used to but I'm sure once we get back filming we will soon get used to it and we just want to get back."

Coronation Street will temporarily air a reduced schedule of three episodes a week. Watch on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm on ITV. 

Caitlin Elliott
Caitlin Elliott

Caitlin is Junior News Editor for woman&home, covering all things celeb, fashion, beauty and lifestyle. 

Having set her sights on becoming a magazine journalist when she was a child, Caitlin took on work experience stints at local papers and titles such as Cosmopolitan, Now, Reveal and Take a Break while studying for her Multimedia Journalism degree and has interviews with celebs, reality stars and the Archbishop of Canterbury under her belt (of course, she couldn't resist asking him about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry). After leaving uni, she dabbled in fashion PR as a Press Assistant for Topshop before becoming a part of the Now team at Future for her first real job in the world of online journalism, joining the ranks as a Digital Writer in 2019. Caitlin went on to add the likes of Woman, GoodtoKnow, WhatToWatch and woman&home to her writing repertoire before moving on to her current role. 

When she's not working you'll find Caitlin sipping bubbles at brunch with her besties, thinking about her next iced coffee, trying to close the rings on her Apple Watch, scrubbing up on her royal family knowledge or scrolling through the Zara app, trying to resist tapping 'check out' again.