Coronation Street Blog: Sally Carman-Duttine interview: Abi, Carl and Kevin

Kevin spots a message on Abi’s phone from Carl this week, can you talk us through her reaction – is she worried?

She is worried about it. She’s trying her best. She’s got all the feelings and she’s really digging deep to avoid Carl and to not go down that path, because she knows that’s just going to be a disaster or it’s going to cause a lot of heartbreak. The consequences will be huge. So she’s fighting with every inch of willpower, whatever she’s got. But he’s not helping her. Carl’s quite blatant. He’s loving the thrill of the chase and she’s also loving it, but she’s really trying to fight it.

Is Carl trying to split up her and Kevin by getting them caught, do you think?

Yeah, I think he loves that sort of danger and excitement and I think there’s a definite element of thrill at the prospect of them being caught. I think the more we get to know Carl, the more we see he lives in the moment and does what he wants to do.

Abi goes to extreme lengths to try and get Carl out the garage – can you talk us through what she does?

She tampers with a car and makes it look like Carl hasn’t done his job properly, simply to get rid of him because she knows she’s at the point of no return now. Her feelings are very strong and to be around him now, it’s just a matter of time. So she’s just like, he needs to go back to Germany. She tampers with the car to get him sacked so he’s no longer in the garage and no longer a problem for her. It’s a desperate attempt to save her marriage.

We can’t reveal what Kevin’s reaction is but we know he catches her out on CCTV tampering with the car. How do you think he might react?

Probably he’ll react quite angrily and demand some answers. Let’s see if Abi can provide them.

Is one of the other reasons Abi hasn’t given into temptation because of Kevin’s illness?

Because he’s so ill she feels absolutely, desperately aware that she just can’t do anything while he’s ill. So I think that is a massive pull for her to stay and make it work and to look after Jack as well. It would be the lowest of the low and she does love Kev, she does care about him deeply. It’s something that she wouldn’t do because she’s not just out for herself, but she’s fighting her demons as well. There’s these old, addictive elements that take her off the rails at times.

Kevin gets his results at the hospital this week. If the results came back worse than expected, how would Abi react?

She’d have to just resign herself and make peace with the fact that if he’s still ill then she’s going to stay and help him get better because it’s the very least she can do after what he’s done for her. But if he was to come back and be okay, that would be a whole different ball game…

But if Kevin got the all clear, would that be a green light for the affair to go ahead?

I think it would be a green light to perhaps put some distance between her and Kev to decide what she actually wants.

Does Abi still love Kevin or has it become an obligation?

I think she does love him. She cares for him and I think they’ve kind of got into a little routine and she was happily bobbing along with that. There was nothing to dislike but I think that Carl coming along has just reawakened so many things that she’d forgotten were in her.

Glenda Young

Bestselling novelist published by Headline