Corrie's Maria: Who will her next "wrong" bloke be?

Our Maria is a lovely girl but she's got a long history of falling for the wrong bloke. She had Tyrone but Fiz stole him away and when she got him back again, she wanted to change him. She was with Nick but he ignored her and took her for granted. Liam was in love with someone else and Tony was a murderer. What's a girl to do?

Recently, we've seen her become really good friends with Marcus who loves to help her with little Liam. I've been getting an idea where this is all leading so here's a bit of speculation:

Marcus really, really wants a family of his own. He really misses Dylan, Sean's son and seems to be spending more time with Maria and her little Liam. Maria is starting to date again and already has had one disaster under her Gucci belt. I'm starting to think they're setting this up for Maria to develop a crush on Marcus. I even wonder if Marcus may have mixed feelings about her, in light of the fact that he'd have a little family.

Sean is already showing signs of feeling left out of the loop when Marcus has been hanging out with Maria. I wonder if further tension between the two men could give Marcus some "wishful" thinking. I expect it to end quickly, though, with Marcus realizing it would never work and Maria realizing the same thing. Love with a gay best friend is doomed. I think it might be in the cards, though, for a short storyline at least. What say you?

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The truth about Maria and Corrie's nasty Nick

Last night on Coronation Street we saw the reunion of Maria and Nick. I needed a quick reminder of what went on between these two so I thought I'd dig out the Corrie reference books and take a peek in the past.

After Nick's marriage to Leanne Battersby broke down, he moved to Canada and returned for Gail's wedding to Richard Hillman in 2002. And that's when he became involved with Maria Sutherland.

Maria went with him to Canada but came back shortly after. Nick returned a couple of years later and after a brief fling with Candice Stowe, took up with Maria again. The got engaged and were going to get married but fell out when he decided to take a job in Nottingham and he left Weatherfield alone.

See also:
The truth about Leanne and Corrie's nasty Nick

Samia Smith gives birth to baby girl

Samia Smith, who plays Coronation Street's Maria Connor, has given birth to a baby girl. Samia's baby was born at 10am on Monday 19 October weighing 7lb 2oz. Samia and her husband Matthew have named their little girl Freya.

Congratulations to Samia from all at the Coronation Street blog. Ah, sweet.

Helen Flanagan's a Loose Woman

Samia Smith, who plays Maria Sutherland, appeared on ITV's This Morning programme talking about baby Liam and Tony Gordon. You can watch that here if you'd like to.

And Helen Flanagan, Corrie's Rosie Webster, also turned up daytime TV when she popped into the Loose Women studio. Watch that one here.

Samia Smith has bun in th'oven

Samia Smith, who plays Coronation Street crimper Maria Sutherland, has announced she's expecting a baby with husband Matt.

Samia is 13 weeks pregnant and the baby's due in October. Samia is also pregnant on screen as Maria and due to give birth in July.

Samia said: “I have been pregnant on screen for the best part of the past two years and as soon as I get rid of the fake baby bump I will have a real one!”

The news of the pregnancy comes after a difficult few months for Samia. Her father Joseph passed away last week after a long battle with cancer. Samia said: “I am so pleased that we were able to tell my dad about the baby before he died.”

Samia’s baby will be the 10th to be born in the past 18 months to Corrie cast.

Samia Smith's Eye Candy

Samia Smith who plays Corrie crimper Maria Connor, has been wearing bracelets made by pupils from Loreto Grammar School, Altrincham, during filming. The pupils have called their venture Eye Candy because the bangles are made of sweets, and are marketing their product as seen on TV to boost sales. And now they can say, as seen on the Coronation Street blog!

Dolly mixtures and jelly bears coated in varnish are used to make the bracelets, says the Manchester Evening News. Pupil Alice Connaughton, who is managing director of Eye Candy, said: "We knew our product was fun and good looking but we were over the moon when Samia said she liked them. To see it on television was so exciting." The team of 14 and 15-year-olds will compete in a Young Enterprise competition on April 2. Good luck to them all.

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.

Samia Smith shows off her thermal undies

Winter draws on and Samia Smith, who plays Coronation Street's Maria Sutherland, has been promoting a new range of thermal pink undies.

Proceeds from the lingerie go to the Breast Cancer Campaign.

You can buy the undies at the Damart website.

Samia Smith's 1960s photoshoot

Samia Smith, who plays Maria Sutherland in Coronation Street, has done a really lovely 1960s inspired photoshoot for Now Magazine.

You can see all the pictures right here.

Samia Smith and Maria's Corrie baby story

I'm sure I wasn't the only one with a lump in my throat watching Maria deliver her dead baby on Coronation Street this week. It was heartbreaking to watch, and contrasted horribly well with Liam and Carla, carefree and drinking in the Rovers. It can't have been easy for Samia Smith to act out those scenes either, as she was using personal experience gained from her own mum.

To be honest, Maria's never been a favourite Corrie character of mine, I've always seen her as a bit of decorative fluff on the Street, and rather needy. But she's going to need all the strength she can muster to carry her through the next few months, what with losing the baby, arranging the funeral and then losing her feckless husband to Cruella Carla's talons too.

We'd better buckle our seatbelts, it's going to be a rather nasty ride.