Coronation Street stars Alan Halsall and Jamie Kenna have revealed their friendship outside of the ITV soap comes in handy for filming scenes.
The pair's characters Tyrone Dobbs and Phill Whittaker are love rivals, and are both after the heart and affection of Fiz Brown.
Since Phill's arrival in July, the two men have clashed several times and have had at least two fights leaving Fiz in turmoil.
As Christmas dawns ever closer, the characters will yet again find themselves at war as they spend the day together.
The actors who play them have an entirely different relationship to their characters though, and in fact get on really well.
When pictures of them attending a football match together got a lot of people talking recently, Jamie confessed he saw the funny side to fans being shocked that they liked each other in real life.
Speaking to The Mirror and other press, Jamie revealed how it helped to have that friendship when it came to filming scenes of rivalry, as well as funny moments.
He said: "There were pictures of us on Instagram and some of the press ran stories on us being love rivals on screen but friends in real life.
"Al was on holiday and I messaged him and said: 'Have you seen what's going on?'."
He went on: "For me to come into a show like Corrie that is so massive, and Alan and Jennie [McAlpine, aka Fiz] have been in it for so long... they live locally so they could easily come in, go about their business and not pay any attention.
"I feel so grateful to have actually made friends, not just work colleagues. It makes a real difference.
"When you get an opportunity like Christmas Day, where it's your responsibility to take it off the page and bring more to it, hopefully that pays off when we all see it on Christmas Day."
On why they get on so well, Alan said: "We like all the same things: football, boxing, that sort of stuff.
"We constantly chat and get on really well, except once we've finished talking, my neck tends to be sore because he's so tall!"
Jamie joked: "And I have to sit down to talk to him!"
Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30pm and 8:30pm on ITV.
