Coronation Street stars reveal their Christmas plans
As we look forward to Christmas on Coronation Street, some of the stars share their own plans for the festive season…
Alan Halsall & Jennie McAlpine
It’s set to be a huge Christmas for Tyrone and Fiz this year, as we see the day of their secret wedding dawn. The only problem is the fact that it’s also a secret from Fiz, so her disappearance from the house causes Tyrone’s romantic gesture to be put in jeopardy.
At a press event earlier this month, whilst spilling the beans on Christmas on the cobbles, actors Alan Halsall and Jennie McAlpine were all too happy to share their own plans for Christmas with EverySoap and other media.
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“I love Christmas,” Alan admits. I’ve got a little girl (Sienna) and she’s nine now, so Christmas is a really big event in our house. Last year we were lucky enough to go to Lapland and meet the real Father Christmas, so I don’t know if we can top that this year which is a bit of a worry!
“I’m not looking forward to Elf on the Shelf again this year though, I’m fully running out of ideas!”
“Christmas is a really family-oriented time for me, we’re all close. My brother and my mum and dad, we generally just congregate at one house. Christmas dinner, slob, watch telly, play games… all of what most people do throughout England at Christmas time!”
Jennie shares Alan’s enthusiasm, though at the time of the interview, was perhaps rightly cautious about one particular present for her 8 year old son…
“I’m super excited, though on the Christmas list from Albert is a Harry Kane England kit… now I don’t know if Father Christmas ought to wait, I’m not sure if he’ll still want it in a couple of weeks!”
“Just filming these Christmas episodes, it’s always so special. It’s lovely having a Corrie Christmas and thinking of years gone by, but then you think ‘…have we not had Christmas?’ You’ve been filming it and then before you know it I’m dashing around Home Bargains and everyone will be out of wrapping paper.”
“We always go to a panto, so we’ll be doing that on Christmas Eve.”
Rob Mallard & Charlotte Jordan
Also speaking together at the event were Rob Mallard and Charlotte Jordan, whose characters Daniel and Daisy are also heading for a romantic Christmas with a proposal on the cards…
The pair explained their different approaches to Christmas in their respective households.
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“I’ve been told I have to be looking forward to Christmas,” Rob laughs as he spoke to EverySoap and other media. “I’ve been told I have to put a tree up and I have to put a wreath on the door as well.”
“I just think that Christmas is not magical unless you’ve got kids, or you’re around kids. This year I will be, I’ll be with my nieces and nephews, so I’m imagining it will be quite a magical one!”
“Luckily I am a giant child,” Charlotte adds. “So I have no problem getting into the Christmas spirit.”
Charlotte then forces Rob to admit what he has got instead of a tree this year…
“A poinsettia with a bauble hanging off it… it looks great,” Rob insists.
“It’s rubbish! I put my tree up last weekend (end of November)” Charlotte reveals. “I’m ready for Christmas. I find that you don’t actually spend that much time in your own flat. So that’s why I wanted it up prematurely. Because I spend a lot of it at work, then I go back down south to spend it with my family, then I’ve also got my boyfriend’s family to go and see… so I wanted to enjoy my tree for as long as possible.”
Asked about what her favourite part of the day is, Charlotte doesn’t hesitate.
“The cheese, the wine and the games, that’s the best bit,” she laughs. “I have no children to be around which is absolutely fine by me, because I can get hammered and don’t have to filter anything!”
“We alternate years where all the family go“, Rob says when asked about any family traditions. “So this year we’re all in one place. We get up and there’s certain times that everyone comes round that we rigidly stick to, it’s like clockwork—we go to the grandparents at this time, then you leave from there to this point etc. Then we get back and my mum starts cooking…. well, she says it’s cooking… it’s looks a lot like drinking. But she gets it done at the same time!”
Ciaran Griffiths
Having recently debuted on the cobbles as Jacob Hay’s father Damon, Ciaran Griffiths recently spoke about his plans for Christmas, having moved back from the other side of the globe to take on the role.
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“I’m going back to Australia for the Christmas break and I can’t wait to see my kids and my partner. Christmas is a bit different these days, it’s hot and we have a BBQ rather than a traditional turkey dinner. My partner is Croatian so we have all the traditional Croatian food which is really nice. Her dad gets the BBQ out, her mum makes loads of food and that’s now the norm for us.”
“My kids are 7 and 2 so just watching it through their eyes, seeing how excited they are opening their presents, getting to spend time playing with them and enjoying the whole Father Christmas magic with them, it’s a lot of fun.”
“I need to start off the New Year with a healthier lifestyle over here. In Australia I’m in a pretty good routine where I’ll get up early at 5.30/6am go for a run, do my exercise then have an hour to myself before anyone even gets up, that’s my time before I’m then on the school run. But I’ve found it hard over here being back in the cold, I’ll set my alarm then look outside and go back to sleep so I need to snap out of that.”
We also spoke exclusively to some of the Corrie stars and asked them what they would buy their characters for Christmas
“I would buy Dee-Dee a diary,” Channique Sterling-Brown suggests for the street’s latest lawyer. “One that she would actually utilise, that’s what she needs. An exciting one that she thinks is worth investing in.”
“I would buy Summer some new shoes” Harriet Bibby said of the troubled teen. “These feet are made for walking!” Given the current issues Summer is up against, we hope they’re running ones!
Jack P Shepherd in the meantime has no hesitation in suggesting what he’d buy David Platt.
“Oh god.. a new son!” he laughs, before thinking more pragmatically.
“A Playstation 5… a new TV actually, we’ve had that bloody TV for how long?!”
On a roll, Jack then remembers something else in the household that could probably do with replacing after two decades….
“Or a new sofa! You know the sofa in the Platts? Richard Hillman bought us that… and we’ve still got it!”
Coronation Street airs on Christmas Day at 7pm on ITV1.