Tyrone Dobbs is currently trying to rebuild his relationship with Fiz after sharing a kiss with Alina, but is it what he really wants? As Tyrone tells Alina to move away, Alan Halsall spoke to us about where Tyrone's real feelings lay, and what this could mean for his future with Fiz.
Tyrone and Fiz had all the symptoms of a happy partnership for many years, but after Tyrone developed feelings for Alina, it's become apparent to them that their relationship lost their spark a long time ago.
"I think Tyrone and Fiz have just been OK, just plodding on," said Alan. "There's no moment that they've lost their spark. I think it's just a progression of their normal daily lives and things have just got a bit boring and the kids, it's hard work. It's not like they've fallen out of love, I think they absolutely love each other, it's just that that spark's gone, and it just happens, sadly."
Tyrone's feelings for Alina came as a surprise to no one more than himself, especially as he thought he had settled with Fiz for life. "I think Tyrone is just happy getting through day by day, he's quite a simple fella anyway," Alan told us. "He just gets his head turned by an attractive girl and an attractive proposition for him. It's something different, it's something new, it's something exciting. I don't think he was looking for it or expecting it.
"I don't think there's any intent at all from Tyrone. There's no malice towards anybody. In Tyrone's world, not just his relationship, I think he just wants everybody to be happy and for everyone to get on. Clearly, the situation that is, that's going to be very hard to do. I think he's so caught up in it all that he doesn't realise the damage that he's doing, and he's caught up in that whirlwind of excitement."
With their relationship now hanging in the balance, Tyrone does his best to try and make amends. However, his feelings for Alina are going to be difficult to ignore, leaving Tyrone in turmoil as he also thinks of Hope and Ruby. Alan said: "I think Tyrone will definitely be conflicted throughout. In a perfect world, he just wants to get caught up in this romance and see how that goes but doesn't really want to hurt Fiz. Of course, then as well, the even bigger dagger is the children. In these types of stories, it's often the children that get, not forgot about or anything, but they become kind of collateral damage in this type of thing.
"It'll be very tough for Tyrone and I think that's why we see him going back and forward. It's not that he hates Fiz... he loves Fiz, just not in that way right now, and he loves Alina in that way right now. It's just such a confliction for him I think right the way throughout."
During the attempt to rebuild his relationship with Fiz, Tyrone tells Alina to move away for the sake of his family. This isn't necessarily what Tyrone really wants though, and is a case of him once again putting his family ahead of his own feelings.
"I think Tyrone will quite happily do that, and I think Tyrone has done that most of his life- he would often put people before himself, and he's trying to do the best for his family at that point. Clearly, he doesn't want Alina to go anywhere, but he's trying to do the best for his family, and I think that's very much a character trait of his. He'll be hurt, but he feels like it's something he needs to do."
It always seemed like Fiz and Tyrone would stay together for the rest of time, so Alan was "shocked" to hear about this storyline. "It came as a bit of a surprise to me, for sure," he said. "Myself and Jennie [McAlpine] have known each other for twenty years, and honestly, there's not a day of it goes by that I don't love working with that woman- she is the most professional, just a joy to work with on a day to day basis. So, you start thinking: 'Oh, I don't want that to go, I love working with Jennie everyday.'"
Alan continued: "As the character, it's fantastic. We want to be part of big stories; this is a big story. It was a big twist to me; I'm hoping it's going to be a big twist to the audience. I hope people are spitting out their cup of tea at half seven on a Monday night saying: 'What's he doing now?' I'm sure he'll get clipped 'round the ear in Tesco a few times for it, but these are the stories we want to be involved with and I'm glad to be a part of it."
The public are bound to have a strong reaction to this storyline, something which could change perspectives of Tyrone. "We'll see the devastation towards Fiz, but also to the children, and I think people relate heavily to that. I don't think he'll get away with it this time. I think he'll definitely be portrayed as the bad lad, and rightly so. Even though I think these feelings have come up on him without meaning it, he's put himself in this position essentially."
Many relationships would crumble under this strain, but is there a chance that Fiz and Tyrone could work it out and stay together? "That's going to be very difficult I suppose after this story, but I don't know," said Alan. "I think in any relationship that you have in life, there's always huge tests. It's testing for every relationship in the world right now, just spending twenty-four hours a day stuck inside with each other, so people get through tests. This'll be a big one, but it might be the making of them, I don't know.
"I suppose that's another joy of us as actors is, we also don't know. We get the scripts and it's a bit of a surprise to us as this story was, and that's the fantastic work that our writers do week in, week out. I'm prepared to go with whatever the script tells me to do. Let's just see where this story takes us, I think there's a lot to go with it."
Tyrone is all over the place where Alina's concerned, but are they in love? "He's completely caught up in it all- the excitement, the romance, and if he sees that as love, then he definitely thinks he's in love, for sure. To whether Alina feels that or if other people believe that, I'm not sure, but for him, I think this is very real."
There could also be moments where viewers see Tyrone change aspects of himself in order to impress Alina. Alan said: "I think he'll do whatever it takes, to be honest with you. If she said it, he'd probably do it. I think there will be a lot of that to come."
Alan has been walking the cobbles as Tyrone for the last twenty-three years, and he is still enjoying it. "I can remember my first day so vividly. With the very, very sad news that we've had this week of Johnny Briggs passing, Johnny was one of the first people I saw in the green room- it feels like yesterday, but it also feels like I've had twenty-three years there. It's such an odd feeling. It's such a brilliant place to be daily. I'm glad Tyrone's been a huge part of my life for all that time. I relate to him in a lot of ways, and I don't relate to him in a lot of other ways."
With his secret kiss now out in the open, will Tyrone try to rebuild his life with Fiz, or will he take a leap of faith with Alina?
Sophie Williams
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