Coronation Street bosses have revealed a behind the scenes secret on why the kiss between Tyrone and Alina did NOT break any Covid rules as it raised a few eyebrows amongst viewers.
After seeing the two characters grow closer over recent weeks, millions of Corrie fans saw the pair to lock lips on Friday night, with Tyrone betraying other half Fizz.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a lack of on screen affection of any sort between soap actors in episodes shot since the first lockdown last year, with them, like the rest of us, largely having to abide by social distancing guidelines.
So, as Tyrone and Alina's kiss played out, viewers at home could be forgiven for wondering how it was allowed to happen.
Reacting to a video of the kiss, one viewer tweeted: "Was just about to say how come that happened?" and another simply asked: "Wow I was wondering when I’m I going to see someone’s kissing on the Cobbles! Someone’s in trouble!"
Well ITV sources have now explained that to avoid contact between the actors and to adhere to social distancing rules, regular Coronation Street actor Alex Mulvaney and his wife Hannah stepped in to the roles of Tyrone and Alina to film the scene.
The action was filmed outside on the memorial bench on the Victoria Gardens set. However, Alan Halsall and Ruxandra Porojnicu were never seated on the bench together.
The two actors were shot having the conversation separately and it was later composited together during post production to give the illusion that they were next to each other.
To make sure the actors had the correct eye line, Coronation Street’s design department taped a pair of sunglasses onto a telescopic radio aerial so the on-screen lovers could give the impression of looking into each other's eyes.
Alex and Hannah were then called in to kiss for real as the camera pulled back to see the couple in a clinch on the bench. Hannah had hair paint on the ends of her hair to make it look more like the character of Alina.
One viewer sort of cottoned onto what happened as they immediately tweeted: "That looked like they had a couple that looked like them kiss"
Revealing all, Alex said: “My agent said that Coronation Street needed extras who were in a support bubble and because I used to be an extra three times a week and they knew half of my family had done extra work on the show it worked out perfectly.
"My partner, Hannah, hadn’t done any extra work before, but my agent knew she had dark hair like Alina’s so I asked her if she wanted to do it. Hannah was nervous at first, but she is a big Coronation Street fan. I had been on set many times before, and I was able to talk her through what to expect and she was a bit starstruck when she saw the actors."
Producer Iain MacLeod explained: “For the most part, our brilliant writers, cast and crew have cleverly worked around the inability of our characters to get within two metres of each other. We have therefore told the same stories throughout the pandemic that we would have told in “normal” times.
"But it just felt wrong to tell a story of an illicit liaison, where someone betrays their partner based on lust and sexual attraction, only for us not to see any of the chemistry and closeness. Hence the smoke and mirrors here!”
Some Corrie fans weren't convinced by the staging of the kiss, with one tweeting: "It just doesn't work...doesn't look realistic at all. Either drop the distance rules or don't film kissing scenes,"
A second commented: "The camera tricks were a bit off would have been better to just leave it like you have the past 10 months," but others praised the show for its inventive strategy, with another reacting: "Very clever"
