Coronation Street Blog Interview with Rob Mallard who plays Daniel Osbourne

In early November I was invited to Media City to interview Rob Mallard, who plays Daniel Osbourne in Coronation Street. Rob Mallard is an impressive young man: highly articulate, thoughtful, witty and charming.

Is Daniel still in love with Sinead?

Yes, he is, though he finds it difficult to admit it to himself. Actually, it feels as if he is obsessed with Sinead as well as being love with her. It’s possible if they continue to renew my contract, that Daniel and Sinead could be the new and enduring Ken and Deirdre. Daniel is more highbrow than Sinead, just as was the case with Ken and Deirdre, but they stayed together even though there were a few hiccups along the way…

 Will Sinead leave Chesney eventually, even though she is about to marry him?

Daniel believes that he and Sinead will be together at some point, unless someone else intgervenes, and Sinead has just to realise this. Daniel is her destiny not Chesney. The rivalry between Chesney and Daniel never really went away but soon we will see that it starts to hot up and Daniel tells Chesney that he doesn’t deserve Sinead and that if Sinead really was happy with Chesney, then she wouldn’t have strayed in the first place. Daniel feels aggrieved too, because when Daniel saved Chesney’s life in the bistro, incredibly, Chesney did not offer him one word of thanks, which, no matter what had happened before between them, was the least he should have done. In comparison, in most of his dealings with Chesney, Daniel has been quite magnanimous, even bringing little Joseph round to speak to him in Portuguese.

Will Daniel and Chesney ever be civil towards each other?

Things go from bad to worse with Chesney and Daniel. There’s a scene where Chesney hits himself as hard as he can with a brick. a Daniel tells people that he didn’t hurt Chesney but that Chesney hurt himself to get Daniel into hot water and to gain sympathy from Sinead. Naturally Sinead is outraged by what Daniel, she believes, has done to her fiancé. You’ll have to see how Daniel manages to get the truth out there. Could be something to do with his having filmed Chesney creating his own injuries with a brick…

Will Daniel’s mother appear on our screens again? And will viewers learn what happened between them?

There’s good news for fans of Denise Osborne – perhaps.  It seems that Daniel’s mum will return, but no one is sure when. There does seem to be a real appetite to see how this relationship works. Daniel’s anger concerning his mother isn’t so much to do with the fact that she left him when he was 15, but more because of the lifestyle they led when she was there with him. I’m confident that the back story will come through, and there are even hints that his mum might have brought unsuitable men into their lives, and that she was more concerned about keeping the men, rather than being a proper mother to Daniel. Instead of supporting Daniel in his endeavours, Daniel had to take charge of his life aged 15, including his Oxford application.

How are relationships lately in the Barlow household?

 Peter is the one to whom Daniel is the closest. For Daniel, Peter has been a father, uncle, brother and friend. Though they are very different types, there is a strong affection between the two. Perhaps surprisingly, Adam and Daniel decide to bury their animosity and rub along together in both their best interests. Besides, it’s hard work keeping up an enmity and easier to just rub along. Of his father, Ken, Daniel perceives him as pious and distant and only really interested in the kudos of a son of his getting into Oxford. There is also the issue of Daniel having pushed his father downstairs – a culmination perhaps of the way in which Ken had barely any input into Daniel’s upbringing. That said, Daniel does feel guilty about what he did and is conciliatory in his attitude towards his dad. As for Tracy, I don’t think it makes sense to hold out any hope of a good relationship for those two, but, this is soap and there may be a turn of events where Daniel and Tracy are thrown together - you never know…

Will Daniel continue to pursue his career in journalism or will he stay in the bistro?

As to his career, Daniel thoroughly enjoys journalism and it is an effective way of him interacting with people. I understand that speculation is rife as to whether Daniel will have anything to do with Phelan’s downfall, but on that topic, I cannot say anything. Daniel might discover something which is connected to Andy.  I don’t know whether Daniel will push further with his career as a journalist.

How do the public react to you?

They tell me that I don’t seem as weird in real life as I do on the cobbles!

What do you, Rob, want for Christmas?

A hoover and a dressing gown, actually. My best present ever though was a keyboard when I was 13.

By Ruth Owen, Twitter @ruth1722

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