Showing posts with label Natalie Gumede. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Natalie Gumede. Show all posts

Friday, 2 September 2016

Strictly Corrie Dancing

As Strictly Come Dancing returns to TV here's a reminder of 2015's s fab-u-lous blog post by @Merseytart. It's all about Coronation Street stars who have been strictlified...



With the announcement that little Katy Armstrong is about to don twelve inches of fake tan and a diamante thong to appear on Strictly Come Dancing, I thought it would be an ideal time to look back at previous Coronation Street stars who've braved the ballroom.

For the first few years, there were no Corrie stars on the show, and there still haven't been any current cast members shaking their groove thang on the dance floor.  For some reason ITV isn't keen on letting its soap stars have time off to appear on one of the glittering stars in the BBC's firmament; can't think why.  Shame, because who wouldn't want to see Rita or Gail doing a samba to Ooh Stick YouIn fact, the first Coronation Street actor to appear on the show hadn't even been on Corrie yet.

Jill Halfpenny - Series Two



AKA: medical strumpet Rebecca Hopkins.

Professional Partner: Darren Bennett

Eliminated: WINNER!

Strictly Journey: I completely forgot that Jill Halfpenny was in Corrie - I remember her mainly from Byker Grove, because I'm ancient - but Strictly blogging legend Chris Rubery (aka the Monkseal) pointed out my error on Twitter so I had to do a quick re-edit of this post mere moments after pressing "publish".  Jill, of course, won the show, and has since gone on to be spoken of in hushed tones as Queen Of All Things Strictly.  Jill Halfpenny is the winner of all winners, a sainted dance legend, and so we'll just forget the fact that she broke up Martin and Gail's marriage, the TART.

Will Thorp - Series Three



AKA: Chris Gray, tedious wife batterer.

Professional Partner: Hanna Haarala

Eliminated: Week Six.

Strictly Journey: sadly, Will's appearance pre-dates both my interest in the show and YouTube so I was unable to review his performance.  However, he was eliminated ahead of middle aged BBC Breakfast legend Bill Turnbull so I don't think he was the new Fred Astaire.

Ray Fearon - Series Four



AKA: Nathan Cooper, mechanic and one-time sexual plaything of Tracy Barlow.

Professional Partner: Camilla Dallerup

Eliminated: Week Six.

Strictly Journey: again, YouTube is not our friend, and the only footage I could find was a grainy video of the male contestants doing a group dance.  Ray seemed to be a big fan of the "stand still while the professional twiddles around you" dancing which usually means a duffer.

Claire King - Series Four



AKA: current resident cougar Erica Holroyd.

Professional Partner: Brendan Cole

Eliminated: Week Eight.

Strictly Journey:  Claire danced like a stripper in need of her rent money and had absolutely no compunction about steaming up the camera lens with filth.  Also, she hated Brendan, leading to a prickly relationship on the floor.  Pretty fantastic all round, really.

Brian Capron - Series Five


AKA: Norman Bates with a Briefcase, Richard Hillman

Professional Partner: Karen Hardy

Eliminated: Week One.

Strictly Journey: see above.  I assume Brian was dancing in character as the recently revived zombie corpse of Richard Hillman, and that was why he lumbered around with no sense of rhythm or movement.  It was actually painful watching him clatter round the dance floor.

Stephanie Beacham - Series Five



AKA: canal-based trollop Martha Fraser.

Professional Partner: Vincent Simone

Eliminated: Week Two.

Strictly Journey: A legendary diva like La Beacham insists on looking her best at all times.  Presumably that's why she danced so timorously: she was afraid of messing up her hair.  She was mostly fabulous offscreen, barking her opinions on her fellow dancers on It Takes Two.

Craig Kelly - Series Seven



AKA: forgettable factory manager Luke Strong.

Professional Partner: Flavia Cacace

Eliminated: Week Eight.

Strictly Journey: Blackpool-born Craig (he was from Blackpool) made great mileage out of the fact that he really wanted to perform in the Tower Ballroom during the traditional Blackpool week.  In fact, Blackpool-born Craig couldn't seem to talk about anything else, and the viewers clearly took pity on him, letting him stay on the show far longer than more qualified contestants so they could give him the chance to cha-cha-cha in the home of British ballroom.  Then they promptly voted him out, because the Great British Public will only take so much.

Tina O'Brien - Series Eight 



AKA: pocket sized irritant Sarah-Louise Platt.

Professional Partner: Jared Murillo

Eliminated: Week Five

Strictly Journey: at first it looked like tiny Tina could be a whizz on the dance floor.  Unfortunately, her daughter caught chickenpox during her time on the show, leading (a) to her mind understandably being on other things and (b) Tina herself catching the pox and having to miss out one week.  The following week she was back but she was kind of beat and frankly sending her home was a relief for everyone.

Jimi Mistry - Series Eight



AKA: recently flame grilled gym owner Kal Nazir.

Professional Partner: Flavia Cacace

Eliminated: Week Six

Strictly Journey: back when he was still "Hollywood star Jimi Mistry", he looked like a shoo-in for the final.  He'd shown his dance skills off already in The Guru and he was a charming chap.  It was therefore a SHOCK! BOOT! when he went out in week six, losing out to the frankly bonkers (in a good way) Michelle Williams.  Still, he got a wife and child out of the experience, so he probably couldn't care less.

Debra Stephenson - 2011 Christmas Special



AKA: crypto-incestuous Cockney Frankie Baldwin.

Professional Partner: Ian Waite

Eliminated: it was a Christmas special, so there was nothing as cruel as an elimination; Debra came second in the judges' rankings.

Strictly Journey: Debra insisted on miming along to the lyrics of Baby It's Cold Outside as she danced, which is just annoying, but she acquitted herself admirably and actually got the same number of points (37) as Charlie "Janine from EastEnders" Brooks.  Charlie was declared the winner though.  Was it because the Beeb would rather award the win to one of their own instead of an upstart from the commercial channel?  I couldn't possibly comment.  (Yes).

Natalie Gumede - Series Eleven 



AKA: her who belted Tyrone with the hoover nozzle - Kirsty Soames.

Professional Partner: Artem Chigvintsev

Eliminated: Finalist (so let's say she came second, because let's face it she was better than Susannah Reid)

Strictly Journey: a long-limbed dance icon, Natalie strode her way across the dance floor with aplomb, and probably should have won.  A week off due to illness and the public's lingering unwillingness to vote for a psychopath who'd beaten up poor Tyrone meant that she was unfairly denied the glitterball.  Also, in the final, she claimed to have "touched the divine" on the dance floor, which is the greatest way to describe fannying about to a C-grade version of And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going I have ever heard.  SHE WAS ROBBED, is what I'm saying.

BONUS: Tupele Dorgu - Strictly African Dancing



AKA: mouthy Underworld legend Kelly Crabtree

Strictly Journey: part of the BBC's Africa season in 2005, Tupele was roped into performing traditional dances with an African troupe.  She lost the crown to footballer Robbie Earle, but has since parlayed her dance experience into various touring musical theatre productions so she's doing fine.

Will Georgia May Foote manage to go one better than Natalie Gumede and snatch the Strictly crown?  She claims to have had a little bit of dance training as a child, which usually means she spent most of her infancy in a tutu doing the splits and she'll blow us all away with her skills (see West End star Denise Van Outen claiming that all she'd done in Chicago was sit on a chair).  It also means that the public, while appreciating her talent, won't vote for her because she didn't have a journey.  We shall see when Strictly returns in September.  In the meantime, keeeeeep dancing!



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Saturday, 24 October 2015

From crazy Kirsty to Jekyll and Hyde

Natalie Gumede played Kirsty Soames on Coronation Street. While Kirsty is now out of prison for her attacks on Tyrone and no doubt lurking somewhere in soapland, actor Natalie goes from strength to strength.  She'll be turning up on ITV tomorrow night, Sunday 25 October in Jekyll and Hyde.

It's been created, written and produced by the very talented Charlie Higson (who I once didn't see on a bus). The cast includes Natalie Gumede as Bella, Stephanie Hyam as Lily, Donald Sumpeter as Garson and Richard E Grant as Bulstrode.

Natalie says in this interview that playing Kirsty on Corrie was "a gift" because she enjoys playing strong women with a bit of a dark underbelly.  Her character in Jekyll and Hyde is head of a criminal empire who runs a bar full of down and outs, thieves and drug dealers.

Jekyll and Hyde starts on ITV on Sunday 25 October at 6.30pm.

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Friday, 19 September 2014

Natalie Gumede in Doctor Who

The guest cast for this year's Doctor Who Christmas special has been announced. Most of the publicity is touting actors Nick Frost and Michael Troughton (son of an earlier Doctor, Patrick Troughton).

But look who else is in the cast list? Ex-Coronation Street star, Natalie Gumede who played troubled Kirsty Soames! Natalie did a bang up job on Corrie and I expect she will shine in Doctor Who.

Natalie herself tweeted "WELL excited to be part of THIS ": Doctor Who Christmas special gets a Frosty feel ”"

There's no word yet on the storyline or what Natalie's part will entail. We wait with bated breath! The episode will air on Christmas Day.

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Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Crazy Kirsty returns to Corrie ... sort of

There's a Coronation Street spoiler in today's Star which says crazy Kirsty Soames starts stalking Tyrone after she's released from prison. 

But it's not all it seems, as The Star reveals that we don't see Kirsty on screen, we just find out that Tyrone starts receiving text messages from Kirsty after he finds out that she's out of jail.

Tyrone calls in Owen to beef up the security on their house after he's bombarded with text messages signed off with the letter K. He is convinced they are coming from Kirsty.

He tells Fiz: “She’s texting again. She said: ‘Thinking of you.’”

Mr Curry Sauce tells The Star: “It’s true Kirsty has been released.  But is she the one sending the texts, or is it someone else who’s a little closer to home?

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Saturday, 26 October 2013

Natalie Gumede to star in BBC drama


She was Corrie's crazy Kirsty, is currently wowing the judges on Strictly Come Dancing and now Natalie Gumede will appear in a new series of BBC daytime drama, Moving On.

Natalie will star in one of the five stand alone episodes in the fifth series of the acclaimed drama written by Jimmy McGovern, who has penned hit dramas including Cracker and Brookside.

Other actors set to appear in the series are Anita Dobson (EastEnders), Anthony Flanagan (The Village), Jo Joyner (EastEnders), Sharon Horgan (Pulling) and Craig Kelly (Luke Strong in Coronation Street).

Watch Natalie and her professional dancing partner Artem Chigvintsev at the BBC Stictly Come Dancing YouTube channel doing the Rumba, the Cha Cha Cha, the Waltz, the Quickstep

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Monday, 2 September 2013

Corrie's Kirsty heads for Strictly Come Dancing


So Natalie Gumede, Coronation Street's Crazy Kirsty, will be waltzing into the ballroom for Strictly Come Dancing 2013. 

I'm really pleased to see Natalie back on our screens again and I'm sure she'll be terrific. It will be quite a change for Natalie to be so frivolous and glamorous after all those months being aggressive and down right horrid to our lovely Tyrone!

Digital Spy has a short interview with Natalie and a picture of her looking quite different from Kirsty Soames!

I'm sure all us Corrie fans will be tuning in over the Autumn to cheer Natalie on.


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Friday, 16 August 2013

Natalie Gumede - from Corrie's crazy Kirsty to comedy

Former Coronation Street actress Natalie Gumede, who played crazy Kirsty Soames, is back on TV in Sally The Life Coach created by upcoming screenwriter and director Daniel Johnson.

The web-series is a funny documentary-style show which follows Sally through the difficult terrain of life-coaching. 

Like Kirsty in 'Coronation Street', Sally is indeed crazy, but in a much different way. "Natalie is one of the funniest people I know, and her comedic instincts are incredible," says Daniel Johnson. "I think people will really be surprised by what she brings to the role; she's such a versatile actress; she can do anything."

Find out more here.

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Tuesday, 19 March 2013

The end is near: Kirsty hits Julie


Next week, Kirsty reaches the breaking point and she lashes out at Julie, who's been so good to her.  The Sun tells us that her mask first slips when she throws a cup across the room at Sally and Julie and later she lashes out and slaps Julie.

"Natalie Gumede, who plays Kirsty, said: "For me, these scenes are more important than the court case. This is the climax, almost more than seeing Tyrone in court. "

Kirsty knows she's out of control and she doesn't want Ruby to have the life she had, afraid of a parent while the other one is powerless to help. She's taken all of her anger and fear out on Tyrone, whose trial starts next week as well.

  The Radio Times also has some comments from actor Natalie Gumede on Kirsty's reaction to herself. "Kirsty is genuinely frightened of herself and doesn’t know what she’s capable of," She says that though the trial is what Kirsty wants, she feels very alone and under pressure. She loves her daughter but Natalie believes Kirsty has trouble relating to parenthood due to her own violent past. Ruby, of course, is picking up on Kirsty's distress and as a result, is more fractious which, in turn, agitates Kirsty even more.

Julie is starting to realize there's something wrong when she finds out that Kirsty was not with her mother on the night of the fire when Julie was asked to keep Ruby overnight. She later discovers that Eileen has also been asked to keep Ruby overnight and questions Kirsty closely and gets her head bitten off for her trouble.


During the trial, Kirsty thinks she managed to be convincing with her testimony though had a few wobbles. After Julie leaves Ruby with Sally, Kirsty loses control completely with Julie and hits her. Julie runs and Kirsty realizes that it's all over. Her secrets will soon be out and she disappears with the baby soon after losing her temper with the little one, scaring herself. Has Kirsty gone for help? We'll soon know.

Natalie has found playing Kirsty has been:
"Challenging, surprising, daunting, terrifying, exhilarating, devastating: a whole mishmash of emotions! There’s always something about her that fills you with dread or surprise. Every step of the way there’s been something that has made me wonder how I was going to play it and make it real. It has been difficult at times to play. Personally, I like to plant the seed early on, but part of the challenge is the not knowing what is going to come next for your character."

I'm really going to miss her. She's one outstanding actor!

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Friday, 15 March 2013

Kirsty shows her true colours

In this week's All About Soap, Natalie Gumede is interviewed and she hints that Kirsty is going to let her reserve slip. While the trial unfolds, Kirsty is going to crack under the pressure and lash out, first at Julie who will realize she's been fooled all along by Kirsty's lies.

Kirsty's mask will slip and her true colours will be out there for all to see and there will be a lot of crow eaten by Tyrone's former friends. We don't know if Tyrone will be convicted or not, but I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that he won't be, considering we already know that Natalie is leaving the show. If he is, he won't be there long before charges are dropped, I'd say.


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Monday, 11 March 2013

Monday Moan: The British Soap Awards


As you will probably have seen this morning, voting has now opened for this year's British Soap Awards. Much excitement I'm sure. Ok, well maybe not for us, but the fake tan emporiums across the nation will be going into overdrive.

I'm going to have a moan about the Soap Awards I'm afraid. I generally find award ceremonies incredibly dull and cannot bear watching overpaid, over-emotional thespians gush and preen, far removed from the real world. However I do think it is only fair our soap operas have their own ceremony. My problem with these awards is how poorly Coronation Street seems to perform given it is head and shoulders above the competition (even when it's at its worst!)

Looking at the statistics, since the awards started up in 1999, Corrie has won "Best Soap" only four times compared to that southern soap's ten gongs. Corrie has only taken the "Best Actor" prize twice compared to that London drama's nine awards and five Coronation Street ladies have taken home the "Best Actress" award compared to eight from down south. It just doesn't seem right to me! 


I hope these statistics change in Corrie's favour this year. There is no doubt in my mind that Alan Halsall (Tyrone) should win Best Actor. My second moan is why oh why isn't Natalie Gumede nominated in the Best Actress category? I would love to know who decided Corrie's top three because in my opinion it just doesn't make sense! Thankfully Natalie is still up for Best Villain - but I think she deserves the best actress nod. 

So why does Corrie not perform so well? Do other soaps have a younger cross-section of viewers who are more likely to vote by text or online? Are we Corrie fans just shy when it comes to voting? 

Who knows, but I'd like to hear your views both on the awards in general and why you think Corrie sometimes fails to come out on top.


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Wednesday, 27 February 2013

Coronation Street's Sunita and Kirsty film final scenes

This lovely photo of Shobna Gulati and Natalie Gumede, who play Sunita Alahan and Kirsty Soames in Coronation Street, was posted to twitter today by the official Coronation Street website at @itvcorrie.


Shobna and Natalie, as Sunita and Kirsty ,have now filmed their final scenes and left the cobbles - for good?  Who knows?  Well, if tabloid rumours are true, Sunita will snuff it in the Rovers Return fire which takes place next month.

But as for crazy Kirsty, well, I'd love to see her back.  Just when Tyrone and Fiz and the kids are settling down to watch telly on a cosy, cold winter's night, their Christmas lights flickering above the fireplace, a glass of sherry in their hands, there'll be a sound at the back door, a shadowy figure, and it'll be Kirsty coming back to cause more trouble. Yes, I'd love to see her back. 

Natalie Gumede has been one of the best actresses Corrie's ever had - in this fan's opinion. And Kirsty Soames will be remembered for being one of the nastiest villains ever - and so brilliant to watch.

It's going to be interesting to see where the careers of both actresses will take them next.  As soon as we hear news of either of them, we'll be blogging it, of course.


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Friday, 22 February 2013

Natalie Gumede films Kirsty's final scenes on Corrie

Natalie Gumede, who plays crazy Kirsty Soames on Coronation Street, is filming her final scenes on the soap next week.

Natalie's just posted these couple of tweets on twitter from @nataliegumede

After my final #Corrie filming day next week, I will look back with love, and look forward to new adventures xxx

Your support has touched me greatly, and working with the #Corrie team has been an honour and a pleasure!

Thank you for your generosity as a person and as an actor! And all of my castmates, crewmates and all who look after us so well

I know Kirsty has to leave because all Corrie villains get their comeuppance, but I'll miss her. And I'll miss Natalie because of her fantastic acting skills and wish her well in whatever she does in the future. I feel she'll go far as an actress, further, I hope than Casualty and Holby City; much further indeed.

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Saturday, 2 February 2013

Natalie Gumede - from Corrie's crazy Kirsty to comedy?

Natalie Gumede, who plays crazy Kirsty Soames on Coronation Street, was interviewed this week in OK magazine and joked about what she'd like to do when she leaves the cobbles.

Because leave she surely must as all Corrie villains get their comeuppance, even if they're let out of jail early after being sent down for 15 years for manslaughter. Yes, I'm talking about you, Tracy Barlow.

Anyway, in OK magazine, Natalie says this about playing Kirsty: "The place I have to go to emotionally is ugly. It’s great to be challenged as an actor, but it’s daunting because unless you’ve been in a situation like Tyrone and Kirsty or you know someone who has, it’s so hard to comprehend.

“I’ve been so blessed to be given the chance to play such a challenging character and work with such great actors.

“It’s so different to anything I’ve done before, but I think I’d like to do a comedy next!”

Whatever Natalie does next after leaving Coronation Street, we wish her all the very best and know she's going to shine in whatever she does.

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Friday, 21 December 2012

Fiz is Tyrone's lifeline

I've just got to weigh in on the current Kirsty and Tyrone storyline since I've been glued to the screen this week. David wrote about it earlier in the week and I could echo every one of his sentiments.

Over the past few months, as Kirsty and Tyrone's story unfolds and more layers are revealed, pretty much everyone has been unanimous in their praise for actors Alan Halsall, Natalie Gumede and Jennie McAlpine, with her addition to the storyline.

This week, Fiz and Tyrone fell back into love and there have been mutterings and more than one set of eyes rolling at the temerity of the writers to stick a romance into the middle of this. Crying "foul", those fans feel it isn't realistic. Some also feel that at some point, Tyrone would lash out in defence. How could you help not defending yourself?

Tyrone and Fiz have a long history, including one of romance. They've stayed good mates over the years through other relationships. With the discovery of what Tyrone is going through, Fiz's feelings have grown from concern for a friend to a renewal of love. When she admitted her feelings, Tyrone jerked back and was shocked to his core. "No!!", he cried. It seemed to be the last thing he wanted but that's because he was scared of what would happen if Kirsty found out. Sure, Tyrone does love Fiz. Is this romance realistic?

The way I see it, Tyrone does love Fiz. And I do think this scenario is realistic but it may not be "true" love in the traditional sense. I think Tyrone is drowning and Fiz is his rescuer. He's going down fast and every time he cowers, every new bruise he suffers, he sinks a little further. He can't go under because he needs to keep going for the baby's sake but he's more and more desperate every day. Fiz is his lifeline.

They certainly are playing with fire by having an affair under the violent Kirsty's nose and they're both going to pay for it in capital letters. Kirsty is very good at manipulation and can turn things and popular opinion to her side with skill.

Kirsty is not a likeable woman because we see her temper and her rage and we fear for Tyrone's safety and mental health. But man, oh man, is Natalie Gumede turning in a top notch performance? Is she ever! She runs hot and cold, soft as a kitten and hard as nails, turning on a dime. Her face is set in stone but her eyes flicker and you think Kirsty is often battling herself and her past. She and Alan Halsall are most definitely bringing the best out in each other and their scenes are stunning and riveting.

There are a lot more sides and layers yet to be told in this story. Corrie most definitely got it right when they hired Natalie and used these two to tell the story.

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Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Pics: Natalie Gumede gets a classy makeover

Coronation Street's Natalie Gumede, who plays nasty Kirsty Soames, has had a classy makeover for a photoshoot for Now Magazine.
 
"You can't be too concerned about what you look like or letting yourself go," said Gumede of playing violent, upsetting scenes in the soap. Sometimes real life is ugly - to show that, you have to forget your inhibitions. Alan [Halsall, who plays Tyrone] and I have a great relationship - he's funny, cheeky and upbeat, so that keeps us laughing between the tough scenes. It was upsetting for me the first couple of times I had to be violent as Kirsty."

"It was hard to get to that place and come out straightaway, so I stayed at work for a few hours drinking tea, just to come back down. I thought [the public would] hate me but I haven't been bashed over the head with a handbag or anything - yet! But people have shouted, 'Leave Tyrone alone!'"

Read the full feature in Now magazine, out today, Tuesday, September 18th.

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Sunday, 9 September 2012

Natalie Gumede prepares for onscreen birth

The Sun has a good interview today with Natalie Gumede about her on screen character, Kirsty, who is about to give birth on Coronation Street tonight. Natalie isn't a mother herself so she watched the documentary show One Born Every Minute for research. That wasn't always such a good idea, particularly while having lunch! She's concerned with getting right and has said it's about more than just the screaming and hollering you see often on screen.


“The most useful thing I was told was that giving birth is primal. It’s not about shouting and screaming — it’s about the push and the job in hand. You can’t worry about how you sound or how you look. I just hope I’ve managed to get it right.”

Gloria Price provides some comic relief while Marcus is on hand to deliver the baby in the back room of the Rovers. 
 
Natalie and Alan Halsall both have been deeply affected by the abuse storyline as it develops. The scenes are difficult to film and take a lot out of both of them. It must be gratifying to hear that real life victims are getting help after watching this storyline. Natalie has also won awards and award nominations as Best Newcomer. The TV Choice awards are tomorrow so we'll keep our fingers crossed that she comes out a winner again!

That makes three babies born in the Rovers to my recollection. Do you remember the other two?

Follow Natalie on Twitter and she's also got a blog on her website.

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Wednesday, 5 September 2012

What Will Happen to Kirsty?

With baby Soames-Dobbs due to make its appearance soon, I do wonder what's going to happen to Kirsty. She's turning out to be a loathsome character, isn't she? All the horrible things she did to Tommy and Tina on Monday, and poor Tina feels like she's being gaslighted or something because no one believes her when she says that Kirsty is twisted and manipulative.

I've been cringing all the time that Kirsty's been on screen. She's horrible. But she can't last. Soap law tells us that criminals pay for their crimes, and that domestic abuse can't be ignored. Look at what happened to Charlie Stubbs. Justice is always meted out. Kirsty won't be able to settle down and live a happy life with Tyrone and the baby.

I did think she might die in childbirth - it does still happen, it could have been something like pre-eclampsia, maybe. But the photo above would suggest otherwise, so I suppose we might have to put up with her creepy psycho self a little while longer.

I bet though that within the year, she's gone, leaving Tyrone to bring up baby alone. Heartbreaking for Tyrone, and kind of a repeat of what happened to Molly, but I can't see her just leaving them - she's too controlling. Maybe she gets done for what she's done to Tyrone and goes to prison. She might get ill and die. She might get run over by a bus. We can only hope, I suppose.

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Wednesday, 1 August 2012

Could Kirsty's abuse last for years?

Alan Halsall has been doing the rounds of the media this week in anticipation of Friday's storyline where Tina discovers Tyrone nursing bruises on his body.

There's a video on the STV.com site as well as on ITV.com (neither of which is viewable outside the UK). The gist of it all has Kirsty lashing out again when she discovers that Tyrone has excused Tommy on one of his repayments.

Because Tina caught him medicating the resulting bruises, Tyrone confides in her. He has convinced himself that Kirsty's mood swings are related to pregnancy hormones but Alan admits in real life situations like this can go on for years. Having said that, I don't think we'll be subject to an ongoing storyline lasting that long.

Next week sees Tyrone hit a breaking point and strike back at Kirsty, her injuries are seen by Deirdre and he's embarassed and angered that his neighbours may find out and think he's the one that's the abusive one. It all boils over but after taking a breather, Tyrone returns home to find Kirsty has done a runner!

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Tuesday, 17 July 2012

Video: Alan Halsall and Natalie Gumede on Corrie abuse story


On this morning's BBC One Breakfast television programme Alan Halsall and Natalie Gumede, who play Tyrone Dobbs and Kirsty Soames on Coronation Street, were interviewed about Corrie's male domestic abuse story.

Natalie explains Kirsty's abusive nature is because of her father's abuse to her when she was a child and from betrayal by fellas during her life. She now she feels that attack is the best form of defence. Natalie said it's the most extreme behaviour she's ever had to act in any role. Speaking about any maternal instinct that Kirsty might be feeling soon, Natalie says that's something they're exploring in Corrie right now as it's the last day of filming while wearing the baby bump!

Alan spoke about meeting a male victim of domestic abuse and says Corrie are working with the charity Mankind - who are receiving a large number of calls since the storyline was featured on the soap.

Alan says that Tyrone confesses in the next couple of weeks to Tina about Kirsty's abuse after Tina finds him in the garage covered in bruises. He says Tyrone wouldn't ever fight back, or leave Kirsty, becuase he's so timid and laid back, which in real life is an issue for male abuse victims.

Watch the video here on the BBC website.

And in other news, Corrie actress Natalie Gumede told us here at the Coronation Street Blog something about her scene where she smashed the framed photo of Jack and Tyrone.  See below for our little conversation on twitter - Natalie is on twitter @nataliegumede and Alan is on twitter @alanhalsall




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Wednesday, 11 July 2012

Natalie Gumede hopes to get it right

Kirsty and Tyrone have a very bumpy relationship. We've already seen her lash out and give Ty a few bruises, especially when she's under a lot of stress. We've also met her parents, specifically her father who appears to have control/bully issues of his own.

Kirsty is played by the wonderful Natalie Gumede and she also blogs for the official Coronation Street website at itv.com.

There's a new blog post out where Natalie talks about meeting with a representative from Mankind which is a charity for male survivors of domestic abuse. She and Alan Halsall, who plays Tyrone, had been representing their characters using their own ideas and hoping it was realistic, but speaking to people that have been through what Kirsty is putting Tyrone through has helped immensely.

Natalie feels responsible to really get this right. She says that Tyrone will ask Kirsty to go through counselling but it won't happen just yet. She's also expecting that the presence of a baby in their lives is going to change things a lot too.

I am really enjoying this storyline. It's unfolded slowly and is building up in intensity. I would also like to have them explore Tyrone's past. It's pretty clear to me that Jackie Dobbs abused and neglected Tyrone and probably this contributes to why he's so anxious to please everyone, Kirsty included and maybe it's also one of the reasons he is wiling to put up with the abuse. It's what he grew up with. Add to that, his burning desire to have a family of his own after Molly's betrayal and you have a lethal mix in Number 9.

Follow Natalie Gumede on Twitter. She's got a website, too.

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