Coronation Street’s Sally Carman struggles to film scenes with real-life fiancé

Sally Carman has been treading the cobbles of Weatherfield as lovable bad girl Abi for three years now, which in Corrie terms makes her still quite the newbie.

‘Oh, very much. I’ve not even taken my first steps yet,’ she laughs. ‘But I felt really comfortable instantly. It sounds odd and gushy, but it felt like it was where I was meant to be.’

The 42-year-old actress has sure made her mark in that time – Abi has battled addiction, seen her twins move to Australia with their adoptive family, fallen in love with Kevin Webster, and is now in full self-destruct mode, having got into a bit of a pickle with Peter Barlow when he tried to help with her recurring demons.

And Sally, who was also on our tellies for a decade as Kelly Maguire in Shameless , has sorted her personal life since joining the soap too – she’s found love with Joe Duttine, who plays the brilliant Tim (she calls him by his real name Johnny – Joe is his stage name, keep up at the back!).

The pair got engaged in lockdown and live in Manchester with their gorgeous dog, the marvellously named Figgy Pudding. Sally talks being wooed by her co-star, being spat at for a living, and desperately trying to get a part in Corrie for 20 years…

When was the moment you went, ‘Woah! I’m actually inCoronation Street’?

I was expecting it, but the intensity of it nearly knocked me off my feet. It was meeting Barbara Knox (who plays Rita). I got to tell her she was the reason I became an actress.

Honestly, I very nearly curtsied outside her dressing room. I got really emotional, and she was kind and gave me loads of good advice.

We’d like some advice from Rita too, please…

She told me to keep good company, always appreciate what you’ve got, and that we’re very lucky to be doing this.

Corrie has always been on the telly in my house, so to walk through those doors of The Rovers and for this to be the way I earn a living, well, it’s brilliantly surreal.

And you’ve been trying to be inCorriefor a long time, haven’t you?

I can’t even tell you how many auditions I’ve had. So many screen tests, they go into double figures. I went for Hayley Tamaddon’s character Andrea, Faye Brookes’ Kate, Julia Goulding’s Shona, and a good four people in the knicker factory.

God bless the casting director, she’s been trying to get me in for 20 years! All I could do was get my head down, do my best and hope the Corrie gods were on my side.

How are you finding the fame that comes with a huge show likeCorrie ?

Because I look quite different in real life, it’s not made a huge difference. Johnny gets recognised more, everyone gets transfixed by him – to the point where they’ll be asking me to take a photo.

I seem to get away with it and fall under the radar. I don’t feel slighted, it’s not a problem!

How’s it been since returning to work after lockdown?

The trickiest part is not being able to touch people in emotional scenes. Actors are so touchy-feely, it’s ridiculous, you just want to be able to give everyone a big hug, so that’s harder than the on-set stuff.

And they’ve thought about everything, tweaked all the writing, manipulated camera angles, so you can have all the emotion and tension without the physical interaction.

One way to get round this would be for you to have an on-screen affair with your off-screen fiancé, of course…

I couldn’t do that to Sally (who is married to Johnny’s character Tim), never. Sally is Abi’s mum, best friend, sister, daughter, all rolled into one.

I can’t really work with Johnny. He has the glintiest eyes and he’s so naughty. He’s very dry, I do find him hilarious, he’s definitely my favourite person.

Well, that’s a good job isn’t it… How did he woo you?

We were so casual for so long, it just took care of itself, there was no agenda. It wasn’t the funny that wooed me. He’s really kind, and that can fall under the radar at times, but he won’t let anyone struggle, he’s always helping.

He’ll always have a think if someone’s not had a good day and he’ll send them a message. He’s a real softie, a genuine nice bloke.

Do you find yourself talking shop at home?

We work very similarly – we’ll learn our lines, think about the emotional intensity of it, go and do it and then forget about it and come home, make some food, put music on, enjoy our house.

We’ve got a lovely big garden now and our dog, oh my goodness, Figgy Pudding, is the light of my life. And he’s so discerning, he didn’t want anything to do with Johnny for a long time, over a year.

He wasn’t having any of it, but he won him over, he was determined.

How would you describe yourself in three words?

A walking heartbeat. I care a lot. And that can be my strength and my weakness. And I make decisions very quickly, my brain works fast and I’m quite impulsive. And then a week later I’ll be like, ‘Hmm, should have thought that through…’

Will we ever see the real you in the I’m a Celeb jungle or onStrictly ?

No, don’t hold your breath. Because I’d make a right old fool of myself and no one needs to see that. The less of me seen, the better.

What is the worst job you’ve ever done?

I did a theatre job and I got really bad stage fright. It’s a funny thing, stage fright, like an out-of-body experience, very unpleasant.

I also did Prisoner’s Wives and I had to be spat at in the face and that took 12 takes and to make it work the actor – God bless her, she felt awful – had to use egg yolk, because the spit wasn’t showing up, and it landed in my eye.

That wasn’t particularly pleasant.

What would you have done if the acting hadn’t worked out?

There was never a plan B. I was going to be an actor from age three. I knew it was what I wanted to do, but I didn’t really do it.

I did do a BTEC course, but I got kicked off because I was all wrapped up with going out and didn’t turn up. I was in a band at the time, an Alannah Myles cover band. Soft rock, awful.

You’re quite glam, how do you feel about Abi’s wardrobe?

I spent 10 years on Shameless wearing small bits of glitter here and there, so now my favourite costume has got to be my overalls.

I adore them. And when Abi does want to get dressed up, she gets it so wrong and I love that too. And I’m two minutes in make-up, bit of eye liner and we’re off.

If you could choose between going off for a glittering career in the movies, or becoming a Corrie legend like your hero Barbara Knox, what would you choose?

For me, the new Rita is a no-brainer. I’d be more than alright with that. I’ll hang around as long as they want me to hang around, that is not a problem.

So what do you love about being Abi?

There’s nothing out of bounds with her, because of her vulnerability. She’s emotionally extremely immature, but, my God, her heart is in the right place.

I love that she has a real fire in her belly. She’s full of joy, and when life disappoints her, it throws her so much.

And she’s in full self-destruct mode now…

It’s a slight misunderstanding from her point of view. Now there is the fact that she took Peter to a hotel and made a pass at him…

But I’m going to stick up for her, because she genuinely thought it was over with Kevin as he can’t deal with her past and he’s got to think of Jack.

Anyway, Kevin’s sister Debbie is suspicious, tells Carla and we walk into The Rovers unaware that there’s a little bit of grief waiting for us on the other side of the door…

Sally’s favourite scenes

The scene where I had to pour spaghetti Bolognese on Sally Webster’s head. Sally (Dynevor, who plays her) is a little monkey and she loves a good giggle.

It usually takes a couple of takes to get over ourselves, but with this scene we only had one shot because she was going to have to wash her hair, do make-up, get changed, and she had to not laugh with all this sauce dripping down her face as she was supposed to be furious. She’s a diamond.

Scenes in the shop with Brian – I love working with Peter Gunn, who plays him. But I don’t want to work with him any more, because I can’t stop laughing. He’s a monster, a nightmare. He tickles me to a point where I’m out of control and it holds everything up. He’s relentless, he’s a horrible, horrible man.

And then there’s Dirty Dancing with Simon Gregson, blowing up a car… I have millions of favourite scenes.

More On

Barbara KnoxJoe DuttineMichael Le VellCoronation StreetShamelessSoap operas