Our interview with Antony Cotton as Sean's homeless storyline begins

‘it’s a monstrous beast, being homeless’ -Antony Cotton

CORRIE PRESS DAY (PART 2) 13th of June 2018 – Coronation Street Studios – Salford

Welcome to interview No. 2 of my visit to the Coronation Street set, and my day caught in a flurry of exclusive summer storyline interviews.

Now situated inside the ‘Coronation Street’ hub after quaffing ITVs deli lunch and copious cups of coffee, I was sat in the midst of Fleet Street's finest, ready for another interview with a Corrie cast member.  Settling down with the rest of the press, a jovial, chatty, confident and charismatic Antony Cotton (Sean Tully),  sat poised and ready to answer our questions.

A serious storyline is afoot as Sean descends into the harrowing modern-day nightmare, of homelessness.

Going to great lengths to research the story, Antony Cotton has actually already had personal experience of homelessness.

''During my stint on Dancing On Ice, I went on Facebook (not that I’m ever on it), going through thousands of messages, by fluke, I opened one from an acquaintance I'd met a few times socially, who asked for help as he was homeless. I rang him and questioned what was wrong and once I knew it was real, I knew I had to help''

Finding himself navigating the often un-linked social services and minefield of social security issues, Antony contacted Manchester homeless charity – Barnabus and whilst simultaneously filming ‘Dancing On Ice’ training for the show, and filming Coronation Street, the actor set about helping his friend, in anyway possible, subsequently finding him a home, giving Antony a unique insight into homelessness.

‘’The moment you have no address you have nothing, that’s why there are so many homeless people’’-  continued Antony, on Sean’s homeless storyline

Rather than sofa surfing or lodging which is something Sean has always done (whether at Eileen’s or with Fiz & Ty), Coronation Street felt obliged to engage Sean in a literal and very real homeless storyline, which shocked Antony the actor.

‘I thought that Sean would not be in that position but it is true, and very spookily, so much so, that I had to go back to the charity Barnabus to research the storyline’ he admitted 'I had already done the research without knowing’

At this point in the interview, I must tell you a fun story. So, about 18 months ago, before joining the Coronation Street Blog, I won a competition with this blog and received a brilliant Sean Tully notepad in the post (see pic above). I thought ‘Ooh I can take that with me to the press day’. Only in the middle of the interview, I realise I’m scribbling away in it, which caught the eye of Antony Cotton, who definitely saw my notepad. Surreal doesn’t quite cut it!

Anyway, back to Sean’s storyline and Antony’s thoughts on it

"My first scene in the tent is where Sean is getting the tent from a bush and I thought well would you put it there really? but I knew it was true as my friend had done it."

As an ambassador for various Army charities, Antony is incredibly passionate about the homeless and the plight of the socially ignored and is rather humbling with it.

The interview ended with a final thought from Antony;

"There is the translucent element of homelessness. They are treated like the walking dead; it's been a real eye-opener."

Coronation Street has produced Sean’s storyline in conjunction with UK homeless charity 'Shelter' whom who can find out more about here.

I am @rybazoxo and I write Wednesday night episode reviews for @CoroStreetBlog Follow me for more content on Corrie’s summer storylines, coming soon.

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From Script To Screen: A Night To Remember

A big thank you to our guest blogger Martyn Hett for this post

Earlier this week I headed to The Lowry to attend Coming Out - From Script To Screen, a discussion on homosexuality in Coronation Street taking place as part of Manchester Pride Fringe. I managed to bag a front row seat, and sat with palpitations knowing that within minutes I would be just feet away from the big man himself, Tony Warren.

Damon Rochefort introduced the event with a montage highlighting Corrie’s best moments throughout the years. It was met with lots of laughter and the fans in the audience were completing the actors’ lines as though they were at a Sound Of Music sing-along. Following the montage, Jonathan Harvey, Debbie Oates, Brooke Vincent, Anthony Cotton and Tony Warren entered the stage to rousing applause and took their seats.

As the discussion began, it was like crack for the superfans in the audience. The chemistry between the writers was infectious, the anecdotes from the actors were insightful and exciting, and Tony Warren commanded the entire room every time he spoke as though he were The Pope.

The Writers

Debbie Oates was a delight to listen to. She was incredibly witty, full of expression and seemed genuinely passionate about the LGBT cause – even claiming to be referred to as ‘Head Of Lesbian’ at Coronation Street. She discussed the unease felt by some of the writers when gay characters were initially introduced, with some claiming ‘not to know how gays think’ to which she responded, “You don’t know how women think either, but you still write for them!”

Damon Rochefort and Jonathan Harvey also provided great insight on their personal feelings towards Coronation Street’s portrayal of homosexuality, with Harvey making the very honest admission that he had previously felt excluded by the soap due to lack of representation. Rochefort and Harvey’s inappropriate jokes had me laughing out loud on several occasions, and the evening seemed to be constructed similarly to Coronation Street itself: the serious made digestible with regular doses of humour.

From a fan’s point of view, it was great to see some of the writers in the flesh, particularly names that I pray for at the beginning of an episode. Between the stories about the lines they can’t believe they got away with (Blanche’s “nasty gash”, anyone?) and their personal reflections on some of the more hard hitting scenes, it felt almost like a night at the Rovers with a group of old mates.

The Cast

Brooke Vincent, who joked about being the ‘nation’s favourite lesbian’, spoke of her fear at being given such a big challenge at the age of 16, her initial reaction being, “Why me?” I got a real sense of personal journey when she spoke, and it seemed as though playing the character of Sophie from such a young age had helped Brooke to develop her own sense of self.

When discussing her character, it was noted that she had been in the soap since birth and that the audience had watched her grow and develop as a person. This raised the interesting point that Sophie had not been brought into Coronation Street especially to be gay, and that the audience had had a chance to explore sexuality through the eyes of somebody they had witnessed growing up.

The biggest revelation of the evening for me was Anthony Cotton. Anthony discussed the abuse he regularly receives from members of the gay community who claim he has “set the gay cause back 25 years”. I’m ashamed to admit, this was an opinion I had shared until recently. As somebody who has always been flamboyant, I am no stranger to internalised homophobia. However, it wasn’t until recently that I realised that my disdain towards flamboyancy in the media was actually a projection of my own self-hate.

Anthony touched upon this when I questioned him on the issue of homophobia within the gay community. His answer was eloquent and heartrending, yet at the same time encouraging, particularly for somebody like myself. He mentioned that he had never featured on the front cover of a gay glossy, which instead tend to favour “naked straight men with boxing gloves in front of their willies”. These in turn become the role models for younger gay men, meaning the character of Sean becomes less aspirational. Couple this with people’s inability to distinguish between fiction and real life, and it becomes pretty clear to see that Anthony has suffered. Nevertheless, Anthony spoke of his achievements and the importance of representing every part of the spectrum, and it turned out to be one of the most poignant moments of the evening.

Tony Warren

From the moment Tony Warren entered the stage a sense of admiration and respect could be felt across the entire room. You could hear a pin drop when he spoke, and the same Tony Warren who refused to come down from the filing cabinet at Granada was clearly still present, albeit older and wiser.

Tony discussed a story conference in the early days at which he stood up to speak against anti-gay language being used by saying, “Without a poof, none of you would be in work this morning!” When his colleagues responded by saying it wasn’t directed at him, he simply said, “Call my brothers, and you call me.” It was a stark reminder of how difficult it must have been for somebody like Warren in those days, and brought the earlier discussion about internalised homophobia back into the forefront of my mind. How have we gotten to the point where we are attacking each other when people such as Tony faced daily battles simply to exist in society?

In response to a fan question about Coronation Street’s perceived ‘lateness’ when it came to representing the gay community, Tony mentioned that there were underlying fears that advertisers may have pulled out had Coronation Street introduced a gay character any sooner. Never one to leave the tone too serious, he then joked that we had come a long way since then as the current sponsorship seems to feature two gay meerkats raising a baby together. The audience was left in stitches.

Given that Coronation Street has pretty much dominated my entire life, this event was a dream come true; after all, it gave me the chance to publicly fangirl over my favourite writers, members of the cast and Tony himself. But the event also raised several important issues on the historical struggles faced by the LGBT community, as well as the rather different struggles faced by people such as Anthony today.

Thanks to Damon Rochefort for putting together such a wonderful event, and thanks to Tony Warren for making my dreams come true by posing for a photograph with me at the end. It was most definitely an evening I will never forget.

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Interview with Jennie McAlpine (Corrie’s Fiz)

Recently I visited the restaurant co-owned by Jennie McAlpine (Fiz in Corrie). After a top-notch breakfast (see my review of Annies here), I chatted to Jennie about her day job and the many other things – in addition to the restaurant – that take up her time.

Fiz has been through a lot in the 13 years she has lived in Weatherfield but Jennie finds it difficult to choose a favourite storyline. She did, however, particularly enjoy being part of the live episode in 2010 to celebrate Corrie’s 50th anniversary.

She is also immensely proud to have been involved with the recent Roy and Hayley storyline. “I was really chuffed, says Jennie, “that (the writers) acknowledged that Fiz was special to them and they were special to Fiz”. Fiz Brown arrived in Weatherfield a troubled teenager who was, of course, briefly fostered by the Croppers.

Fiz then became, as Jennie puts it, “one of Mike Baldwin’s knicker-stitchers”. Her early scenes with Baldwin – “one of the icons” – must have been intimidating for a young actress new to The Street.

However, she loved working with Johnny Briggs and reminisces fondly about the storyline in which Fiz threw whisky in Baldwin’s face before staging a topless rooftop protest after the erstwhile cockney wide boy had nicked her designs. Fiz removed her self-sewn basque and threw it from the roof. Whatever happened to the undergarment in question? “It’s in Gail’s back garden”, jokes Jennie.

Jennie has been with her partner, Chris Farr, for nine years now and they owe it all to Coronation Street. It was their mutual friend – Antony Cotton – who introduced them. Jennie is friends with many cast members but is particularly close to those she works with most – “Chesney, Tyrone, all my factory girls and honorary factory girl, Sean”. “You meet such great mates”, she says.

I imagine it’s hard, then, when a close friend leaves. Julie Hesmondhalgh is an obvious example. But Julie is “very much alive”, says Jennie, having recently appeared at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre in “Black Roses”, the play about the murder of Sophie Lancaster. Being directly next to Annies, Jennie was able to see it and catch up with Julie. She also met up recently with Suranne Jones (‘Karen McDonald’) and remains “great mates” with Georgia Taylor (‘Toyah Battersby’).

You would think the filming schedule for Corrie combined with the demands of co-owning a successful business would leave little room for anything else. However, Jennie is involved with lots of different projects. She DJ’d recently at Manchester club night Bop Local and I’m curious to know what to expect when DJ Fiz is on the decks. “Cheese!” exclaims Chris, which Jennie concedes to be largely the case before qualifying this as “anything that makes you want to dance”. This includes Kylie mixed in with great Manchester bands such as The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays.

And when she’s not spinning records at banging club nights, she can sometimes be heard on the radio – when she can “fit it in around Corrie”. The other week she had a guest slot presenting on local station Key 103 and she has previously appeared on BBC Manchester with her friend, the comedian Justin Moorhouse, who will soon be turning up in Weatherfield as the Landlord of the Flying Horse. Jennie is looking forward to his appearance. She thinks he could be “a great corrie character” and would “love it” if he became a regular fixture.

Having recently watched a repeat of Jennie and Justin’s appearance on Pointless Celebrities, I ask Jennie about her penchant for quiz shows. Before she was a contestant, her joint favourites were Pointless and The Chase. However, she now prefers the latter “because we did well on The Chase whereas, on Pointless, we didn’t do so well”. The Chase is presented by Bradley Walsh, who played Corrie’s Danny Baldwin; and currently stars in “Law and Order” with Jennie’s mate Georgia Taylor. Small world!

Besides the fact that she is a fan of TV game shows, there is a very good reason for Jennie’s appearances on them. It is not that she is “obsessed with going on quiz shows and being on telly” but because they provide her with an opportunity to raise money for charity, particularly Mood Swings, the mental health charity chaired by her Dad, Tom McAlpine OBE.

The charity, Jennie explains, has “always been a big part of my life” and she has been helping her Dad with it since before she joined Corrie. Mood Swings “is a charity that supports people who are going through life’s ups and downs”. Based in Manchester but with a national, sometimes international, reach; Mood Swings aims to provide people who are undergoing a period of emotional distress with the support they need to recover and “lead a life that is extremely fulfilling”.

Thankfully, Mood Swings is largely self-funded and so has been relatively unaffected by swingeing cuts to mental health services. It relies heavily on volunteers and in addition to Jennie’s fundraising endeavours, they organise events and have individuals raising money for them constantly. Jennie is particularly touched by the efforts of one 14-year-old girl, Erin, who she met at Annies. Erin nominated Mood Swings as the charity to benefit from her school’s annual sponsored walk. The school went on to raise a whopping £30,000 for the charity. Jennie attended the awards ceremony at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall and describes Erin’s gesture as “really special”.

Mood Swings has not been totally unscathed by Government cuts though. As Jennie points out, “people losing their jobs… their houses… their family” means that “the need for mood swings just goes up and up and up”. Consequently, the necessity of raising money is endless because “the more we get the more people we can help”.

One quiz show that Jennie has not yet appeared on, but would certainly consider, is Ejector Seat. Presented by Andi Peters, contestants are moved backwards if they get a question wrong and then have to answer questions while moving. If they continue to answer incorrectly, they eventually get ejected. As Jennie explains, “there’s a big puff of smoke and then they go backwards and they’re out of the game”. It sounds brutal but Chris is waiting for them to do a celebrity version. And if Jennie does appear, then you heard it here first!

There are other causes that Jennie feels passionately about. For example, she recently used Twitter to highlight a report by Barnardo’s that calls for an extension to the help received by young people who are leaving care. “Imagine if you’ve been in care since you were a baby and you’ve been really looked after and then one day, all that help just gets totally cut off”, says Jennie – “you can understand why people go and end up in trouble”.

There are clear parallels to Fiz’s story and Jennie initially drew inspiration for playing Fiz from her Dad’s career in social work. “I’ve always been around tricky kids”, she says. “I absolutely love naughty children… I can’t help it”.

Currently expecting their first child, Jennie and Chris will soon have a little tinker of their own to think about. I am hopeful of an exclusive for the Coronation Street Blog when I ask if they know the gender. But alas, they are waiting till the day to find out.

If it is a girl, she will not be named Annie, despite the playful point made by Chris that “it would be good advertising”. I can also report that Chesney, Schmeichel, Kirk and Tyrone are not on the list either. Nor is Fiona. Jennie wants to “try and steer clear” of Corrie-themed baby names but accepts that “whatever we come up with, they’ll have been in Corrie at some point”.

Jennie has the ‘accolade’ of being the first actress to act out giving birth live on TV. “I might be the first actress to give birth live in real life”, she says – “that would be a laugh, wouldn’t it?” Well, it’d be a very different kind of celebrity ejection, that’s for sure, and would deserve a considerable appearance fee for charity!

If things are busy for Jennie McAlpine now, they’re about to get a lot busier. Some would be daunted by the demands of balancing an acting career with motherhood while running a restaurant, supporting various charities and pursuing other interests. But not Jennie. She is thankful for the “brilliant support” around her and feels she is “in a really lucky position”. She is taking it all in her stride and I’m sure that Jennie and Chris will be brilliant parents.

Jennie will be going on maternity leave from Coronation Street in October and Fiz will be kept busy until then. Jennie is excited about working with Wendi Peters again when Cilla returns. “I don’t quite know what they’ve got planned”, she says, “but I know it’s sort of to do with me going off”. One thing she is fairly confident of is that Cilla will “cause a bit of chaos” - “I don’t think she’s going to come back a reformed character!”

We also know that Tyrone is going to have an accident and a feud will erupt between the Dobbs-Brown clan and the Grimshaws. Filming has already started and Jennie promises “it is going to be dramatic”. According to Jennie, “Alan Halsall is back in make up again having bruises and various things put on him”. There will be a lot of characters involved and “a few of them know things that the other few don’t”. She can’t give anything away but it’s “going to explode”.

Jennie loved working with Graeme Hawley (John Stape) but also loves working with Alan Halsall (Tyrone). Apparently, she’s not allowed to mention Graeme’s name in front of Alan because he jokingly tells her she “should move on now”. With Fiz and Tyrone reunited, things have come full circle for Fiz. Jennie jokes that Fiz “had to go and try some other people” but when she found out John Stape was a murderer thought, “maybe I’d be best with the one I started with”.

In terms of future ambitions outside of Corrie, Jennie talks of one day returning to her stand-up roots (she performed comedy shows at the age of thirteen) by developing a show for the Edinburgh Festival; perhaps “with a baby on my back!” Although she would “like to do a bit of theatre at some point” she is totally committed to, and focused on, Coronation Street.

As Jennie says, “you can fulfil your ambitions because every week we get brilliant scripts and it’s all different. I play a character that is lucky enough, or unlucky enough sometimes, to have so many different stories… so I love it”. “I don’t want to go anywhere yet”, says Jennie. And nor do we want her to.

Jennie McAlpine clearly loves working at Corrie. While being enjoyable and rewarding in itself, it also provides her with a platform to do the other things that she is passionate about. Jennie is great company and an inspirational and talented figure who will hopefully be treading the cobbles for many years to come.

Whatever the writing team have in store for Fiz, I hope that she’ll always have Tyrone by her side and that the two of them will continue to rub along together like the twenty-first century Jack and Vera they are destined to become.

By Martin Leay

Twitter: @mpleay

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Antony Cotton staying on Corrie

Antony Cotton has signed a new deal to remain on Corrie.

He announced the news on Twitter, saying: “I have just signed my 9th contract with the show and I couldn't be prouder to be in the show. Thank you Coronation Street, you are amazing!”

Meet three Corrie faves in Poundland on Saturday 21 November

Every time Poundland let me know they're opening a new store, I just about fall off my seat in amazement. I've fallen off my seat so often recently that I think it's safer if I just stay on the floor. I reckon Poundland are single-handedly bringing the UK out of recession, I really do, and they're opening another three, yes three, new stores this week and they've got some Coronation Street favourites on hand to do the opening honours as follows on Saturday 21st November.

Antony Cotton (Sean Tully) will be at the new Poundland store in Shepherds Bush.
Kate Anthony (Aunty Pam) will be at the new Poundland store in Banbridge, Northern Ireland.
And Jennie McAlpine (Fiz Stape) will be at the new Poundland store in Portadown, Northern Ireland.

The fun starts in each new Poundland store at 10am on Saturday, November 21st. So if you are around this weekend, do come along and join in the fun!

For more information visit http://www.poundland.com/, the Poundland blog http://www.poundlandblog.com/ and Twitter http://twitter.com/PoundlandParrot

Meet Corrie faves in Poundland on Saturday 7 November

Poundland are opening another two new stores this Saturday, November 7th, and they've lined up some Coronation Street favourites to do the honours.

Katherine Kelly who plays Becky McDonald will be opening the new Waltham Cross store and Antony Cotton who plays Sean Tully will be opening the new Uxbridge store.

The fun starts in each Poundland store at 10am on Saturday November 7th.

For more information visit http://www.poundland.com/, the Poundland blog http://www.poundlandblog.com/ and Twitter http://twitter.com/PoundlandParrot

John the parrot talks back

According to Anthony Cotton, Charlie the parrot, who plays John on Corrie, is picking up a lot of new vocabulary including a few swear words. He's told more than one to "eff off" and is picking up directors' instructions, telling cast to "take it from the top". I'm waiting to see if we hear any of it on screen as an ad lib but probably, they'll edit it out. More's the pity, it could be a right laugh!

Anthony Cotton helps Poundland crack credit crunch

Discount store Poundland - where everything's still only a pound - continues to crack the credit crunch and they're celebrating opening yet another store. Anthony Cotton, who plays Sean Tully in Coronation Street opened the new store in Banbury on February 27th. He also opened a new Poundland store at the end of 2008.

Full details are on the Poundland blog here where I'm chuffed to little mintballs to be called their "favourite Corrie blog".
Cheers, Poundland, you're fab.

Sponsor Samia Smith and Anthony Cotton in Great Manchester Run

I've been asked by the nice people at the Kirsty Club charity to give a mention to Coronation Street's Anthony Cotton and Samia Smith (Sean Tully and Maria Connor).

Anthony and Samia are both taking part in the Great Manchester Run in May to raise funds for the Kirsty Club in support of Francis House Children's Hospice. There are places left for the run and any Corrie fans could be running next to Anthony and Samia.

Corrie fans can also sponsor Antony and Samia at http://www.thekirstyclub.com/. All sponsor names will be put into a draw and at the end of the run the winner will get to meet Anthony and Samia and also receive loads of Corrie memorabilia. There are some great Corrie pictures on the Kirsty Club website too.