Coronation Street Blog: Sair Khan interview: Alya reunites with Zeedan

How does Alya feel about Zeedan’s sudden reappearance, is she pleased to see him?

Alya’s a bit annoyed with Zeedan, we all know a lot has happened in the last few months with Geoff and Yasmeen, her split with Ryan, and family has been the focus of Alya’s life for a long long time. She thought that family was a big part of Zeedan’s life as well but he just left 3 years ago and is at the stage where he’s barely keeping in contact with the family so I think that’s wound Alya up the wrong way. The fact that he only gets in touch for birthdays and special occasions isn’t good enough for her so he’s definitely in her bad books when Yasmeen announces he’s visiting. But at the same time she does miss him deep down because they did have a good relationship.

So how does she feel when he then rides in like the knight in shining armour and offers to loan them 50K because of the bank scam at Speed Dahl, are there any alarm bells ringing?

There are definaley alarm bells ringing, all of a sudden he’s got £50,000 in his pocket which means as a family they haven’t been privy to his business successes and it just goes back to how distant he’s been over the last few years. He’s been holding his cards very close to his chest but as the story unfolds we’ll see why he hasn’t been so forthcoming about what’s been going on in his personal life.

She’s had a tough few months with her gran, after Geoff, then Ryan’s betrayal, how is she coping?

I think Alya always tries to put a bit of a brave face on it, especially because she doesn’t want to hinder Yasmeen’s recovery, but she’s definitely feeling the pressure. She’s had a lot of emotional stress with her own personal life, trying to look after her gran, run a business, she’s quite exhausted so she’s probably a bit resentful of Zeedan who’s just off living his life with his new wife while she’s trying to hold down the fort. At the point where he comes back she’s dropped the ball with the bank scam so it’s the perfect storm for him to walk back into!

What are her feelings for Ryan, we see her defending him at times, obviously he messed up with Daisy but does she miss him?

Again it’s all smoke and mirrors with Alya, on one hand she’s trying to be a strong independent woman because she knows her worth. She’s trying to put on a brave face, like she doesn’t care about Ryan but deep down she loves him and she wants him back. She’s fighting with herself, there’s a massive conflict between her head and her heart. Also now she knows it wasn’t all Ryan’s fault and she knows about Daisy’s manipulation it makes the whole thing a little bit more complicated. She doesn’t want to let Ryan off the hook too easily but she is definitely still pining for him.

Would you like to see Alya and Ryan back together or do you think there is someone else who is better suited to her?

Since the whole Daisy controversy and the break up I’ve realised how fully invested I am in them as a couple. I’m really interested to see where the relationship could go next. On the face of it they’re not well suited at all, he’s a bit of a joker, sort of a lost puppy but I think that complements Alya really well because she can be a bit highly strung, maybe a bit stuck up at times. He really brings out the softer, more playful side to her. She’s had to be so tough for so long she’s struggled to see the lighter side of life so I think they are a good pairing.

Is she shocked when Zeedan is beaten up, did she know he was in trouble?

It comes as a complete shock to Alya when Zeedan is beaten up. She just goes into detective mode, she wants answers, she’s not necessarily suspicious of him, it’s just wanting to get to the bottom of what’s happened and why. Obviously there’s always random attacks but there seems to be reason and motive here and that’s what she’s trying to find out. She’s trying to fact find and when he has no answers for her then that’s the thing that ignites her suspicion and makes her wonder if he’s really telling the truth.

Do you think his return could spell a lot more trouble for the Nazirs?

I think Zeedan is trouble but I don’t think it’s all of his own making. I think he’s got himself into a really sticky situation and any wrongdoing seems to have snowballed from something that might have been quite easily resolved into something much bigger that’s now a bit out of control.

Do you think we’ll see a stronger, feistier Alya after what she’s been through?

She’s definitely stronger but with Zeedan he’s family and that’s Alya’s weak spot, she’ll do whatever she can to defend her family, even if it goes to the extreme and potentially gets her into trouble. Alya’s a very moral person but when it comes to her family the rulebook goes out of the window. Zeedan coming back, and any trouble he’s got himself into, definitely lends itself to a rocky ride for Alya.

How pleased are you to have Qasim back?

I’m so over the moon to have him back, we’ve got a real life brother and sister relationship which is great for us because it really means we can let loose when we have these scenes and push it quite far with the sibling rivalry. It just feels so natural and so right, I definitely feel like there’s been a missing piece in the Nazirs so it’s a very welcome return.

Are you looking forward to more drama for the Nazirs?

I’m definitely looking forward to having a more expanded Nazir family again and who knows what drama there’ll be in store. The more Nazirs the better as far as I’m concerned and who knows what’s been going on with Zeedan, he now has extended family so maybe there’s scope to have them on the street as well.

Glenda Young

Novelist published by Headline