Strangers tell me a ‘friend’ is controlled.. it’s obvious from their emotion it’s really them

and horrible situation. I think we would be doing a disservice to the people this has really happened to – and is happening too – if it wasn’t a difficult watch.”

Shelley was born in Calcutta, India and her father, a successful photographer, moved the family to Britain when she was 10. “I hated it here, I was racially abused,” she recalls.

She says she she failed to land a place at top drama school RADA because of the colour of her skin. She said: “I went through months of auditions, but a senior person didn’t think I would work in this country because I was Indian and there wasn’t any work.

“He didn’t mean it unkindly, it’s just how things were. Thankfully perceptions changed and we moved on.” training at The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, she landed her first TV role in 1978 as nurse Jay Harper in the iconic BBC medical series Angels. “I got my Equity card because they wanted mixed race actors,” she recalls. She also appeared in series including King of the Ghetto and Casualty.

She says she decided to quit television and concentrate on theatre work as she was being typecast in Asian roles.

But Shelley was tempted back to the small-screen in 2014 to play Yasmeen – and has no plans to leave.

“I enjoy being here,” she explains. “For my first few years here I was a bit worried because I felt underused, but now I’m actually working at something and stimulating my brain. I don’t know how long they will want me here, but I wouldn’t leave readily.”

Shelley was first told about the abuse storyline at the start of last year. She says: “I started to read about it and it was evident to me that this was not going to be an easy journey.

“The more I read I realafter ised that this sort of abuse doesn’t begin overnight. It’s a long process whereby someone’s self-respect and self-esteem is gradually whittled away, not always through violence, but through mental cruelty and isolation.

“Geoff love-bombs and then brutalises – that’s the relationship.”

Coercive control was only recognised in law as a form of domestic abuse in 2015. The law describes it as a “continuing act, or pattern of acts, of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse, that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.”

Shelley worked closely with the charity Women’s Aid and sat down with abuse survivors.

Some viewers were

PLAYS YASMEEN IN CORRIE

surprised when Yasmeen, a feisty personality, fell victim to Geoff, played by Ian Bartholomew, 66.

But Shelley said: “One of the ladies from Women’s Aid said the coercer will seek out someone who is stronger than themselves, as a challenge.”

Shelley, who lives in London with her civil partner, theatre director Trilby James, believes the story is too close to home for some Corrie viewers.

“The people who feel the most uncomfortable are those who recognise a bit of themselves,” she says.

“Even people on the crew have said to me that their partners have accused them of being like Geoff. This storyline makes us look at our own behaviour.”

If you are worried that your partner, or that of a friend is controlling and abusive visit www.womensaid.org.uk.