Coronation Street Blog: Tanisha Gorey interview: Asha refuses to be bullied by Corey

How does Asha feel as she approaches her 16th birthday? Does she feel more secure in her relationship with Corey or does she have any doubts?

For Asha it’s all about people seeing them as a proper couple, about her family accepting Corey, so it’s more of a hope that everything goes well enough now for her to bring him in as a boyfriend and finally feel secure with him. I do think she’s a bit worried about turning 16 though, as we’ve seen Corey hinting that once she’s 16 things can happen that can’t legally right now. She’s a bit worried about what he’s thinking, it’s just another day on one hand but then it’s obviously such a big deal for both of them as so much could follow it.

Is she starting to get the feeling he's only after one thing? How does that make her feel, especially on her birthday when she’d like to do something nice together?

Yeah I think the realisation is dawning on her, she just wants to go out and have a nice time but he’s literally got one thing on his mind. I think it’s quite upsetting for her, they’ve been through so much to get here and she thought he wanted her as a person as that’s why they fought so hard but now it seems to just be coming down to this one thing. She is upset and it makes her start to question her judgement.

Nina makes Asha’s birthday that bit more special, how does she feel when she gives her the choker as a present?

She feels so appreciative that someone has actually seen her as a person, Nina wants to get to know hwe as a person, be her friend and it’s so nice for Asha to have that in her life, someone who can give her advice and support.

When Corey laughs at the choker and tells her to take it off how does that make Asha feel? Does she comply?

At first it’s more the embarrassment, she wants the floor to swallow her up, she doesn’t want any attention. Also after everything she’s been through with him she doesn’t want people to see this, she wanted everything to be ok so people can see she made the right decision by getting back with him, she doesn’t want people judging her. Unfortunately she does listen to him and she does take it off, it’s heartbreaking for her. She feels that Nina is the only person who really sees her and the fact that the choker is from her and she’s giving in to Corey makes it even worse.

Yasmeen overhears how he speaks to her and offers a few words of advice, does it upset Asha? Do you think she’s starting to recognise that behaviour in Corey herself?

She knows what Yasmeen has been through and how vulnerable and scared she must be even to be out of the house. So the fact she's come over and had the conversation that enough shows Asha what’s going on. It does worry her, yes, if it’s bad enough for Yasmeen to come over and warn her about it then there must be something in it.

Nina persuades her not to be pushed around by Corey, do we see a change in Asha’s behaviour at the point?

Yes and I think it’s because she sees how confident Nina is, she sees how she deals with things, how brave and how strong she is as a person and Asha wants that. She looks up to Nina and she wants to be able to stand up to Corey in that way too.

Are you proud of Asha as she stands up to Corey?

I don't think I’ve ever been prouder of her! It’s been nearly two years now since Corey has been in Asha’s life and the absolute warmth I felt to see that confidence come from her is amazing. It’s great to see her building her confidence after everything she’s been through.

It puts their relationship on the line, how upset is Asha about that?

Asha’s heartbroken, she invested so much in this relationship and Corey did tell her what she wanted to hear, we just don’t know how true his feelings were. We know he wanted the one thing but we don’t know how genuine he was otherwise. She laid a lot on the line for Corey and sadly he’s proved everyone else right. She wanted her feelings validating, to know she’s done the right thing and when he doesn’t even fight for her it’s so upsetting.

She’s had such a difficult year and her confidence knocked so many times but do you think we could see a new, stronger Asha coming out of this?

100% I’m hoping that’s what we see. Asha and Nina have become very close, she’s become Asha’s shoulder to cry on and they both want to see her have the confidence to live her life the way she wants to.

Have you enjoyed playing her over this year, what would you like to see next for the character?

I would love to see her confidence build even more, to see her blossom and have some dreams. To see her thriving on the street would be amazing.

Glenda Young

Author of gritty, family saga novels with Headline