Coronation Street's Tina O'Brien has told how she managed to film an intimate “love square” using social distancing.
The actress, who plays Sarah-Lou Platt, is emotionally tangled between husband Adam Barlow and ex Gary Windass (Mikey North) – who is getting married to Maria.
She said the scenes of her marriage falling apart – amid some “charged” moments with murderer Gary – were tricky to film but not impossible.
She said: “I was concerned the distance would make it difficult to get up close but it was just normal. We had a really good time.
"We got to film everything in order and got into the flow of it which we wouldn't have been able to do before. It was a blessing in a way.”
She said her character is “very confused” about her feelings for the men in her life, expecially after discovering that Gary killed Rick Neeland – but then he saves her life and declares he still loves her.
“She was very clear about how she felt about everything and had thought – right I'm going to speak to the police about this.
"But because Gary saves her life and because of the things he says about his feelings towards her, she's very confused about how to move forward.
“She's a bit caught really. She does actually say to someone 'he's under my skin'. She's the first to say she would never go back to him – they had quite a toxic relationship towards the end but because of the PTSD he had but because she really did truly love him, I think she feels that she doesn't want to betray him.
“It's that feeling that I could love you and hate you in equal measure.
"It's like he gets her, and he presses her buttons. She knows that he does care about her and I think she's a bit of a sucker for the fact that she knew how much he loved her. There is a moment when she thinks something could happen.”
She is not surprised that Adam, played by Sam Robertson, is desperate for the truth.
“She loves her husband and only recently married him. But she also knows that he's gunning for Gary and would do anything to see him go to prison.
“I can understand why he thinks that Sarah's got feelings for Gary because she isn't being very honest with him or behaving as she should. She should be more open with him but I think she's got trust issues. I do think she's under no illusion that if she carries this on she could lose her husband. But what will she do?”
To add to her problems, Sarah also feels guilty.
“Gary says he killed Rick in self defence for her, because he was going to go after her family if he hadn't done what he did.
"I think she wishes she didn't know any of it! She was quite happy living a lie in her marriage with her son – this has thrown a grenade in.”
And she's not very happy about Gary marrying pal Maria either.
“There's a tinge of 'God, Maria hasn't got a clue and my life feels like it's come crashing down' and it's over. Gary's the one who did it and fessed up but he's the one who's landed on his feet. There's a bit of resentment there'."
