Coronation Street Blog: Sam Aston interview: Chesney sick with worry when Joseph is poisoned

Joseph’s been complaining of feeling ill for a while now. Why doesn’t Chesney believe him?

He thinks either it's just a cold, or he's a typical lad just trying to skip school, because that's where he might have done. But then obviously it comes to fruition that it's potentially a little bit more than you know what he thought.

When does Ches first start to realise that something is actually seriously wrong with Joseph?

I think at that point. The other thing is there's so much going on for both Gemma and Chesney, Chesney is maybe a bit distracted. He's going off to work as much as he can to provide, because they've got the financial strain. They're skint and we know that, he's got four other children. There's a lot of people in that house. I suppose, as bad as it sounds, sometimes things can kind of slip under the rug. And I don't think it's anything personal, he's just wound up in his day-to-day life.

How does he react when Gemma brands herself a terrible mum?

Well he feels bad because obviously he loves Gemma to bits, and they're a good team. He's not out to get her, I think he just knows in the past Gemma's had issues, she's needed her antidepressants. So I think he's probably just thinking, Gemma come on, don't get wound up about this. Maybe it's also he doesn’t have time to deal with this right now. They’ve got enough on their plates. Please don't make it something that it's not, don't make a mountain out of a molehill.

Then Joseph passes out – Chesney must be terrified at that point?

Yeah, definitely. He passes out and then he's rushed to a hospital. And yeah, he is obviously terrified. I think there's guilt as well. That this is what Gemma has been saying for ages and he's been pushing it aside. And now he's like, flipping heck, maybe there is something wrong and now I feel really, really bad.

What happens when they get to the hospital?

So when they get to the hospital initially, they say that he's been poisoned. So Gemma and Chesney are thinking, flipping heck, how's he been poisoned? Who's he been poisoned by? How has it even happened? Then you've got the whole situation with the social worker thinking, what's going on here? Is Gemma fit to be looking after him? So it all starts to spiral out of control a bit quickly. The social worker has a chat with the doctor, whilst Chesney and Gemma are bedside with Joseph. And they're just questioning Gemma really.

That's a lot for Chesney to deal with

Yeah, because he knows that she'd never do anything to purposely harm him, but he does worry. But you had the situation with Bertie and the tablets, in the bag when she was childminding. Now this. He's just thinking, is she all right? But he's got to tread carefully as well because you don't want to falsely accuse your loved one of something. Because you can dig yourself into a deep hole pretty quick! So it's a tricky situation.

Can you tease a bit more of what’s to come?

There’s a lot more to come and it definitely is going to put a strain on their marriage. They've got some difficult times ahead.

Glenda Young

Novelist published by Headline