Watch: Samia Smith and Jennie McAlpine on the Paul O'Grady show

Samia Smith and Jennie McAlpine, who play Maria Connor and Fiz Stape, were on the Paul O'Grady show on ITV today.

They talked about the "love triangle" their characters are currently in with Tyrone.  Jennie says that the storyline gets a lot worse as Maria descends into madness over her fight with Fiz for Tyrone.

And The Renshaw Twins even get a mention too! 

They also talk about the new set, the new canteen and how much they're enjoying it there.

Watch the interview here.

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Corrie Christmas Countdown - Day 14

 

Over the next few weeks, the ITV Coronation Street website is doing a daily Christmas countdown. They'll be showing classic clips of and teasers and trivia about Corrie Christmases.

Today, some members of the cast share what they like about Christmas in a video.

For those who can't see it, here's what they say:

Jane Danson (Leanne Tilsley) – “My favourite thing about Christmas is the whole build-up to it especially now as I’ve got children and going to see Father Christmas and the doing the whole Christmas carols and Christmas shopping and the fun things you do, especially with the kids at Christmas.”

Ben Price (Nick Tilsley) – “My favourite thing about Christmas is when it’s over! I’m not great at Christmas.”

Samia Smith (Maria Connor) – “My favourite thing now is probably my daughter’s face on Christmas morning when she realises that Santa’s been. She’s four now and she completely gets it and she gets so excited on Christmas Eve. So it’s probably’s Freya’s face. And also the Christmas markets around Manchester are amazing.”

Michelle Keegan (Tina McIntyre) – “Everyone in the family getting together, having a laugh, having a few drinks, watching Corrie of course and just being together at Christmas. That’s it, just having fun.”

What do you like about Christmas?

For me, it's the Christmas carols and services and the family getting together.



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Corrie Christmas Countdown - Day 4

From now until the big day, the ITV Coronation Street website is doing a daily Christmas countdown. Over the next few weeks, they'll be showing classic clips of and teasers and trivia about Corrie Christmases.

Today, some of the cast share their favourite presents of all time in a video special.

For those who can't view the clip, here's what they said:

Catherine Tyldesley (Eva Price) – “The best Christmas present I got as a child was my first make-up set because I’m a bit of a drag queen!”

Brooke Vincent (Sophie Webster) – “That kitchen that every kid wanted, every girl wanted, where the doors used to open – it was dead good. That was my best present.”

Paula Lane (Kylie Platt) – “My first pair of inline rollerblades. I was never out of them and I spent the whole of Christmas on them.”

Simon Gregson (Steve McDonald) – “Big Track! Loved Big Track! Parents hated Big Track as it went round the front room hitting grandparents and all sorts of things.”

Michelle Keegan (Tina McIntyre) – “My granddad made me a doll’s house out of a cardboard box. I absolutely loved it and had it for about ten years until my mum threw it away.”

Samia Smith (Maria Connor) – “There was a game, when we were kids, called Lights Alive. Don’t know if you remember it. You put a black sheet of paper in and then you got these little shapes and you put them in and turned it on and it made a big neon shape. It was very 80s but it was very cool and I loved it.”

What's your favourite Christmas present?

I remember having a miniature farm where you built all the farm buildings (barn, stable, pig sty, chicken coop) and got about three fields made out of wood and then you put fences and gates around them. And then, along with the farm, you got all the animals like cows, sheep, horses, pigs, ducks, chickens, geese, sheepdog and a cat. It was great!

It really made you have an imagination, where you invented stories involving the animals. It's such a shame that these days children are sitting in front of a screen playing computer games.

What about you?

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Samia Smith enhances her silhouette

While perusing the photos from Helen Worth's wedding, you might have noticed something a bit different about the pretty Samia Smith. A couple of things, in fact.

The normally slender Samia has succumbed to peer pressure and has had her chest enhanced. The Sun also confirms this with a better photos here. She has apparently boosted her self confidence by boosting her cup size by  one or two letters.


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Pic: Samia Smith confirmed for Dancing on Ice 2013

I'm no fan of Dancing on Ice but I know it's huge and pulls in loads of viewers to ITV. 

Earlier this year, Andy Whyment who plays Coronation Street's Kirk Sutherland, took time off from the cobbles for a bit of skating on ice. And this year, Samia Smith, who plays Kirk's on-screen sister Maria Connor, is set to join the ranks of skating celebrities.

The full Dancing on Ice lineup is as follows:

Pamela Anderson & Matt Evers
Anthea Turner & Andrew Buchanan
Samia Ghadie & Sylvain Longchambon
Beth Tweddle & Dan Whiston
Lauren Goodger & Michael Zenezini
Baroness King of Bow & Mark Henretty
Matt Kapinskas & Brianne Delcourt
Shayne Ward & Maria Filippov
Joe Pasquale & Vicky Ogden
Luke Campbell & Jenna Harrison
Keith Chegwin & Olga Sharutenko
Gareth Thomas & Robin Johnstone
Dancing on Ice is hosted by Phillip Schofield and Christine Bleakley and returns on Sunday, January 6, 2013 on ITV1.

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Maria to face breast cancer scare

We've seen Sally go through it, and next month, Maria will face a breast cancer scare. There's a long interview in the Mirror with Samia Smith who tells us that she herself when through a breast cancer scare just after her baby was born. She found a small lump and was lucky to be able to get in and have it seen straight away and in her case, it was benign.

As far as Corrie goes, this will be the catalyst to a different sort of relationship triangle when Maria turns to Marcus for support, not Jason. She and Marcus will find their feelings are stronger than they realized.

“They are good friends but the lines start to get blurred. She knows he is gay but she can’t help her feelings for him."

As you can imagine, poor Jason is going to be broken hearted yet again. Will Marcus and Maria go the distance? I reckon not and she'll be broken hearted as well. Again. 

Samia also talks about motherhood but says very little about her divorce and new relationship with former co-star Will Thorpe other than to say she's happy.


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Coronation Street couple go public with their real-life romance

Samia Smith and Will Thorp, who play Maria Connor and Chris Gray in Coronation Street, went public with their romance at the Children In Need Ball in Manchester last night.

The couple joined a host of stars including Kelly Rowland, Coleen Rooney, Alesha Dixon and Chantelle Houghton at the bash at the Manchester Hilton, which was hosted by Gary Barlow.

More pictures and infomation at the Mail Online.

Watch: Samia Smith interview on Lorraine

Samia Smith, who plays Coronation Street's Maria Connor, was interviewed on ITV1's Lorraine show this morning.  For those in the UK who can watch the video, the link is below but for those overseas who can't view these videos online, here's a little round up of what Samia had to say.

She talked about the upcoming storyline with Chris dying from his brain tumour, dumping Maria and trying to get back to his ex-wife Cheryl.  The cast get the scripts one or two weeks in advance of filming and trust the writers to do what they want with the characters and they're pleasantly surprised, most of the time.  Samia tries to do all of her script learning at work so she can enjoy her home life but some cast members try to learn their lines at home the night before.

Samia confirmed that she's signed a new contract with Corrie for another 12 months and says there's some interesting, great storylines coming up for Maria.

You can watch Samia's interview online here.

Samia Smith signs a new contract

Samia Smith has signed a new contract keeping her on the cobbles for another year.

Samia, who plays hairdresser Maria, is looking forward to seeing what the next twelve months holds for her character.

She said: "I've just signed up for another year, which is exciting. I think there's going to be lots of drama for her."

This new contract will keep her onscreen until late 2012.

Her love life will take a new turn shortly when boyfriend Chris leaves her to reunite with ex-wife, Cheryl, following his brain tumour diagnosis.

Corrie couple snapped holding hands

The News of the World have a picture today of Coronation Street couple Samia Smith (Maria Connor) and Will Thorp (Nasty Chris) together. 

They were snapped strolling hand-in-hand near the soap's Manchester studios.  

Have a look at it here.

Samia Smith and her husband split up

Samia Smith, who plays Coronation Street's Maria Connor, has separated from her husband Matthew after five years of marriage.

A statement issued on their behalf read: "Coronation Street actress Samia Smith and her husband Matthew have today announced that they have decided to separate after five years of marriage.

This is a mutual decision and there is no one else involved. Samia and Matthew ask that their privacy be respected at this time for the sake of their daughter Freya."

Will Tyrone and Maria reunite?

Tonight's episode seemed to give a slight hint that Corrie's very own version of 'Ross and Rachel' will reunite. Sure when they last parted, it was because Maria tried to get Tyrone to wax, and this lead to Tyrone thinking Maria couldn't love him for who he was.

But now they're both so different, both cheated on by their spouse, both lost a spouse and both got a kid. It seems right that Tyrone and Maria reunite now, they're both older and wiser.

They could even have their own name: 'Ty-a-Maria' I think it is what Jack and Vera would want for Tyrone, and I really hope the writers go down this route.

Samia and Shobna pull the Corrie pints

Brewers JW Lees are producing the Coronation Street 50th annivesrary beer (and very nice it is too!). Here's a picture of Corrie actresses Samia Smith (Maria) and Shobna Gulati (Sunita) at a promotional event for the beer in Manchester last month.

Find out more about the Corrie beer.

Corrie actresses' mums talk about their daughters

There's a lovely mother's day piece in the QVC blog where the mums of Corrie actresses Helen Flanagan (Rosie), Samia Smith (Maria), Katherine Kelly (Becky) and Kym Marsh (Michelle) - explain why their girls are stars to them both on and off screen. The four mums are pictured to the right and there's more pics with the interview, which is a really nice read.

Read it all here.

Samia Smith shows off post-baby body

Samia Smith is in OK magazine this week where there's a gallery of pictures of the Coronation Street actress who plays Maria Connor. She talks about the time and effort she's put into slimming down after giving birth to her daughter last year.

I wonder when Samia will be back on the Street as Maria - anyone know? She's currently suffering Mammy Connor in Ireland right now.

Picture courtesy of Tony Ward.

Samia Smith with her new baby

Samia Smith, who plays Coronation Street's Maria Gordon, is featured in the latest edition of OK! Magazine. There's pictures of Samia with her new baby girl Freya.

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.

Samia Smith's maternity frock

Samia Smith, who plays Maria Connor, was snapped by Splash News out shopping with Lucy-Jo, the new lady wife of Alan Halsall, who plays Corrie's Tyrone Dobbs.

Anyway, if anyone would like a maternity frock just like Samia's, it's a Mamas and Papas dress available here.

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.

First picture of Maria Connor's baby

Want to see a picture of Maria Connor's baby? Well, it's the real-life baby who's been cast to play the part in Coronation Street. And while Maria's set to have a son on the Street, the real-life baby is a lickle girl.

Have a look here.