Next week, Coronation Street is to air Gemma & Chesney's wedding and I cannot wait. For my latest Coronation Street press event, I was pleased to share screen time with one of my favourite Corrie actors, Dolly-Rose Campbell, to talk all about it!
Hi Dolly! - next year will be your 10th anniversary on Corrie. Did you ever imagine being involved in a Corrie wedding, a big-fat Weatherfield Wedding? I was only drafted in for six episodes whilst Paula (Lane - Kylie Platt) was away having a baby, so to be still here all these years later, having lots of fun storylines, is just amazing! Being a bride at a Corrie wedding is a real honour!
Gemma and Chesney have shared a lovely love story - fans were rooting for them to get together. What is it about these two that make such a great pairing?
I think Gemma and Chesney complement each other perfectly. I think he’s the calm side to her more crazy hyper side and he brings her down to earth. He accepts her for who she is, he doesn't want to change her, they are best friends, and they make a great team.
Gemma’s wedding was never going to be a calm or quiet affair. How important is it for her to have a big fancy do? Is it a case of having something to prove?
I don't think it's necessarily about having something to prove, more something she's dreamt of her whole life. It's about having her day, being a bride, and being fabulous. A day for not worrying about money, work, or learning to sign. Just a day for the family and being with the quads.
In the build-up to the wedding, Paul and Gemma have a falling out - she tells him not to come to the wedding. Can you tell us what happens?
In the build-up to the wedding, Paul is being distant and moody. Gemma doesn't understand why, nor why he isn't as excited as she is. It gets to a point where he blows up at her and tells her that nobody is bothered about the wedding, that he’s sick of her, and it really hurts her feelings. She’s angry at him and tells him not to bother coming!
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| Gemma's Wedding Dress - Behind The Scenes pic! |
At the centre of Gemma's big day is the wedding dress. We've just been shown the pictures - it looks amazing! It's huge, orange, and it has a 7-metre train.. with fairy lights. What was it like to wear?
It was actually really comfortable, it was made to fit me, and unlike the pregnancy mould, it wasn’t heavy. I was blown away by it- it's a work of art. The detail that has gone into it is way more than I imagined.
The dress is orange! Where did the idea come from?
The idea came from the Coronation Street costume department designer, Alex. She decided on orange, the most Chesney colour, and we all thought that was hilarious and agreed! The dress was designed by a Manchester drag queen called ‘Liquorice Black’, his Nan is a fan of Corrie so I think that swung it for us. In the Weartherfield universe, Gemma has bought the dress second-hand and Izzy has made all of the alterations.
What was it like when the rest of the cast first saw the dress?
None of the cast saw it before the wedding, apart from Ryan Russell (Michael Bailey) who was having a costume fitting at the same time. Nobody else had seen it in its full glory, and I didn't actually wear it until we were inside the church. Barbara (Knox, Rita Tanner) loved it! and said it was perfect for Gemma, which was surprising.
Gemma has a sign-language interpreter at the wedding and you’ve been learning in real life. Why did you learn it in real life, and how is it going?
I'm halfway through learning level 2 at the minute. It's getting quite difficult, but I do enjoy it. As part of the casting, we wanted a deaf actor to be in the cast as Aled. He is deaf, and the actor's parents are also deaf - it made sense that either myself, Sam (Sam Aston - Chesney) or Jane (Jane Hazelgrove - Bernie Winter) learnt how to sign so we could help him on set, and to make him feel included.
That's brilliant Dolly, and really commendable! Thank you for the chat.
We are long overdue for a Coronation Street wedding, and this is a big one to look forward to! The dress is 2 metres wide, has a 7-metre long train, and fairy lights, and was designed by a Ru Paul's Drag Race designer. A mini-skirt was also made, due to the camera's struggling to get the huge dress all in the shot! We also get to see Billy do some archdeacon stuff, which is also long overdue.
Watch Coronation Street next week to see Gemma & Chesney’s Big Fat Weatherfield Wedding.
The wedding dress will be available to view at the newly opened Coronation Street Experience.
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