Was That Corrie's First-Ever ‘Gender Reveal’ Party? Corrie Blog Interviews Tina O’Brien

Last night, Adam Barlow found out the truth about his wife's baby's parentage, and in true Corrie fashion! 

I’d guess this is the first 'Gender Reveal' party in Coronation Street’s 63-year history, but the subterfuge, extramarital affair, and espionage that went into covering up that paternity letter was a classic Corrie tale! 

We viewers already knew it was Damon's baby, and I knew all about tonight's episode shocker about a month ago when I interviewed Corrie actress Tina O'Brien, who plays Sarah Barlow, who told us all about it! 

Hi Tina!

Sarah’s got herself in a bit of a mess. Do you think she thought she was going to get away with it, and how does it make her feel? 

I'm not sure she fully got away with it, however, it's all gotten out of hand. She was ready and willing to tell Adam the truth but, with Stephen's involvement, it became harder for her. 

Do you think she would let him believe the baby was his? 

Because she wants the baby (and not the termination) Sarah hopes she can cope with the guilt. Personally, it's not something I could deal with!

Walking into that gender reveal party, did she know what was coming? 

Absolutely no idea - a complete surprise! It was an interesting scene to film - a lot of different emotions. Sarah walks in and knows about the gender reveal but has to pretend she doesn't! - a lot is going on. 

How did she feel when the balloon goes up in front of all her friends and family?  

Shame, devastation, embarrassment, and scared. She doesn't know where it's all come from. She feels sick to the stomach!

Did she think Adam would ever be capable of doing anything like that to her? 

No. Adam's a solicitor and very level-headed; she’s usually the one that's kind of up and down. She wouldn't have seen this coming from him! 

Thanks, Tina for this great catch-up! 

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It's funny you know. When I first interviewed Tina for this blog I mustered some courage and asked her a direct question about whether she thought Adam and Sarah would ever have a child together (this was just after they'd married). Tina gave a great response. I’m kinda hoping I influenced something there!

Will Sarah carry this child full-term? Is the marriage of the Barlow/Platt clans now over? Will Sarah remember that Harry's father was also a bad boy drug dealer? 

The first-gender reveal party, it may have been, but have we seen this all before? 

This was the final article in my latest series of summer spoilers cast chats so I’m now returning to my weekly episode reviews. I may also avoid spoilers for the foreseeable. It’s been brilliant getting weeks ahead of the show, but it does take the magic out!  

What are your thoughts on Corrie? Let us know in the comments section. 

I am @rybazoxo Coronation Street Blogger and cobbles connoisseur! 

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INTERVIEW- Tina O'Brien: Where do Sarah's loyalties lie?

As we all know, Gary's just been knocked over by a car after Sarah ran into the road, trying to call the police after his revelation that he is indeed a murderer. Even though he did it with good intentions (?), murder's still murder and Sarah attempted to do the right thing by calling the police and nearly got herself killed in the process. I sat down with Tina O'Brien via Zoom to talk about Sarah's sticky situation. 

When Sarah ran into the path of an oncoming car, Gary could've believed in divine intervention and let her die. Instead, he came to her rescue, which has now put Sarah in a difficult position; does she now owe Gary a favour, or do her feelings about her ex run deeper?

"I think she's a bit caught, really", Tina said. "She does actually say to someone, you know, 'he's under my skin', and I think she would be the first person to say that she would never go back to him, you know. I think they had quite a toxic relationship towards the end... the fact that she really did truly love him, I think she feels that she doesn't want to betray him." 

Following Gary's revelation that he will always love Sarah, they share a charged moment later on when he goes to find out from Sarah what she has said to the police, or Adam. Tina said: "I think it’s that feeling of ‘Oh my gosh, I could love you and hate you in equal measures’, if that makes sense because that thing there, you know, it’s like he gets her and I think he presses her buttons but I think he also... she knows that he does care about her and I think she's a bit of a sucker for the fact that she knew how much he loved her, so I think there is that moment that she thinks something could happen, but I think she would say she’s probably relieved that she doesn’t."

With all of this going on, Adam's suspicions are heightened after Sarah very blatantly lies to the police. He already has it in for Gary, but now he starts to think that maybe his wife still has feelings for her ex. 

"It’s a tricky one because I can understand why Adam thinks that Sarah’s got feelings for Gary because, you know, she isn’t being very honest with him and she isn’t behaving as she should really, she should be more open with him. 

"I think she’s got trust issues based on what happened with Callum that she maybe doesn’t want to open herself up, but I do think that she is under no illusion that if she carries this on, she could lose her husband."

Even though Sarah knows that Gary killed Rick, he also knows Sarah's darkest secrets. 

"I think she's incredibly torn because she loves her husband... but she also knows that he is gunning for Gary and he would do anything to see him go to prison and I think she’s worried that if she tells Adam the whole truth, then she’s going to compromise herself as well because she’s never told him about what happened with Callum and she’s kept that a secret" 

Sarah has got some tough decisions to make in upcoming episodes. Will she protect Gary, and will she lose her marriage? 

Sophie Williams

Read some more of my general natterings on Twitter @soph_journo.

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Sarah finds out the truth about Gary after Adam proposes? - Tina O’Brien Interview

With a Christmas shoot-out set to rock the Corrie cobbles, we spoke to Tina O’Brien to find out what twists and turns are in store for Sarah Platt.

“Christmas Day’s also David’s birthday so there’s a decision to go and, like, hide and seek presents so Sarah, Bethany, and Shona go out hiding the presents and it’s at that point that everything kind of goes off.”

Whilst Derek is running amok the Winter Wonderland, Sarah takes cover with Adam by her side, desperately trying to stay out of harm’s way.

“At the end of the Winter Wonderland there’s like a large tree and they kind of huddle behind it and I have a small child with me which you can imagine was fun filming in the middle of the night!”

With all the surrounding chaos going on, Adam suddenly decides to pop the question to a stunned Sarah.

“It was a really sweet moment actually. I’m not sure why, but because we’re sort of there and there is that fear.

This is the craziest time to ask so I think she’s pleased but she’s also a little bit overwhelmed and doesn’t know how to handle the situation.

“Of course she wants to marry him but she’s a little bit like, ‘This is not the time or place’ basically.”

Despite a marriage proposal, this is hardly the family Christmas that Sarah envisioned, and she still has the matter of Gary Windass to deal with. If you cast your mind back not too far, you’ll remember that Gary is technically responsible for the deaths of two people, as well as currently running his loan shark business. However, Tina mused that Sarah has pretty much got him sussed.

“I think [Sarah] knows [Gary] maybe better than most people and I think there’s things that he’s done where she’s gone, ‘I know you’ve got a darkness to you’ and that scares her.”

Tina also explained how when the factory collapsed all those months ago, Sarah already had her reasons to believe that Gary was somehow involved, but Tina still believes that Sarah will be shocked to find out what Gary’s really done.

“Although she’ll be surprised, I think she knows he’s got it in him.

“When choosing between the right thing to do and the thing that benefits him, Gary chooses the thing that benefits him and what makes him look like a good guy... that’s why sometimes I think with Maria she’s a bit like, ‘Oh Maria, I’m trying to be nice!’ And she’s like ‘You’re jealous!’

“Maybe she is a bit jealous? I don’t know, it’s hard to know if she’s a bit resentful as well because now Gary’s there with all this money, and he’s offering Maria a life that he couldn’t offer Sarah.”

At least Sarah’s life is improving romantically with Adam shaping up to be her happily ever after.

“I think Adam’s right for her, actually. I think she really, really loved Gary and I think she was very loyal to him, but I think there was a lot of issues within the relationship of him saying, ‘Look, I’m not going to lie to you anymore’, and then she’d find out he was lying and then he would do the same thing over and over again.

I think she needs to let [Maria and Gary] go a bit and move on forward with her life with Adam because I think he makes her happy.”

With a potentially deadly Christmas Day looming for the residents of Coronation Street, make sure you tune in to find out Sarah’s fate!

Sophie Williams

Read some more of my general natterings on Twitter @soph_journo.

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Tina O'Brien marries fiance Adam Crofts

Congratulations go to Coronation Street's Tina O'Brien who has married her fiance Adam Crofts, today, New Year's Eve 2018.

Tina and Adam were married in what has been described as "a boutique hotel in Manchester."

The Sun have pictures of some of the Corrie cast turning up for the wedding as guests.   

Fancy writing a guest blog post for us? All details here!  

  

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Tina O'Brien interview: Sarah's shock news about Gary

When’s Sarah’s first thoughts when she gets the call from Joe?

Sarah doesn’t believe it. She thinks there has been a mistake or that it is someone else because, although she’s upset, she feels like if it was real she would somehow know and she doesn’t feel that overwhelming grief so she has convinced herself that it isn’t true.

In the past she has warned Gary about the dangers of this job, hasn’t she?

Yes, she obviously knew it was very dangerous but this is her worst nightmares confirmed.

What happens next?

David tries to find out some information and he explains that there has been one body found. Sarah thinks that because there were loads of men out there that it still might not be Gary but David explains that they found a St Christopher and that’s when she breaks down because she knows that she gave him a St Christopher just before he left.

What’s her reaction when she hears that news from David?

She’s absolutely devastated, she’s in shock. She thinks it’s the end of the world.

Things were really on the up for Sarah and Gary before this, wasn’t it?

Yes, as far as she was concerned he is the one for her and they were going to get married one day. He was really good to her and seemed to really love her so she was really happy and content.

Sarah and Tim have to break the news to Anna, what happens then?

Anna is beside herself and she feels trapped; she wants to get out, be with Faye and see her family but of course she can’t because she is in prison. She breaks down and has to be held back because she tries to get out of the room that she is in, in her desperate state.

The viewers know that Gary has got Nicola pregnant. Sarah does not know this but David finds out this week and is toying with the dilemma to tell Sarah. How would she react if she did find out?

She would be absolutely devastated because she truly believes that Gary is loyal to her so the fact that he has completely broken that trust and not only slept with someone else but is having a baby with them, that would completely destroy her. She has had a tough time but as far as she is concerned she found someone who is literally her rock so to find out that that was actually a lie, she would be really upset.

It seems that viewers were really rooting for Sarah and Gary, did you see any reactions when he cheated on her with Nicola?

Yes there were loads of tweets saying, “No, Gary, no! What are you doing?” They liked the fact that there aren’t many relationships in the show that are good, solid relationships and Gary and Sarah seemed like a couple who would last so when he did that, he made a lot of people think, ‘Oh for goodness sake!” so that was quite funny. But there were issues there with Gary’s communications with Sarah; he felt like there were certain things that he kept from her and didn’t tell her. Then Nicola comes along who is really understanding and he can open up to her.

Do you think that David should be honest with Sarah when he finds out?

That’s so tough! Under normal circumstances, yes he should be honest with her but the fact that she has just received this news about Gary, why upset her more, why make the pain even worse?

What’s the best thing about working with Jack P Shepherd?

Ah, there’s a few! He is very funny, he is very, very quick and witty. He is very easy to work with because he is a very generous actor.

Have you enjoyed playing the emotional scenes? Has it been challenging?

It has been really hard because it’s a really weird, hard headspace to get into. Obviously I can’t give any secrets away but there are a lot of revelations and a lot of twists and turns in a very short space of time so it was a lot of head gymnastics and getting from one thoughtspace to another. It was a rollercoaster within a space of a week but it’s been such good fun to do.

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