How Coronation Street filmed its first post-pandemic kiss between actors

This is the moment Coronation Street will air the soap’s first kiss between actors since strict social distancing rules were introduced.

In Wednesday night’s episode footballer James Bailey will be faced with questions from journalists about his sexuality after pictures of him and his love interest Danny Tomlinson are leaked online.

As he takes the stage at a press conference, James steels himself to tell the truth and announce that he’s gay.

Back on the street, Danny reveals he watched the press conference and as he tells James he wants to be with him, the pair share a passionate moment.

The kiss was filmed after actors became part of a tested cohort so they could safely work closer than two metres and actually kiss.

The episode was written by Damon Alexis-Rochefort as part of Pride month,

Earlier this year a real-life couple stood in for actors Alan Halsall and Ruxandra Porojnicu on Coronation Street when Tyrone Dobbs and Alina Pop started their affair with a kiss.

In order to not break coronavirus social distancing rules in the UK, regular Corrie extra Alex Mulvaney and his wife Hannah stepped in to take their place.

The two actors were shot having a conversation separately and it was later combined during post production to give the illusion that they were next to each other.

To make sure the actors had the correct eye line, Corrie’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.

But this is the first time on the soap that two actors have been able to film a kissing scene since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Other pre-tested close cohorts have been formed previously for the fire stunt with Geoff and Yasmeen Metcalfe and Alya Nazir in the 60th anniversary episodes and for the scenes where siblings Kevin and Debbie Webster were locked in a freezer together.

The James and Danny scenes will air on ITV on Wednesday June 30.

You can also watch all next week’s episodes on the ITV Hub from Monday June 28.