'I begged bossess not to let me cheat on Sally'
CORRIE star Joe Duttine has revealed he told show bosses “you can’t do that” after learning his character would cheat on bangedup wife Sally – with her own sister.
The actor, who plays Tim Metcalfe, admits he wasn’t happy when he learned that writers had planned the boozy romp with Gina Seddon.
It’s yet more misery for Sally, who is spending Christmas behind bars after being framed for fraud and jailed – sparking the Daily Star’s Save Our Sally campaign.
Joe says: “As actors, you put a lot of time into your character and your relationship, and eventually over time you sort of nick them off the writers.
“So when new writers suggest stuff you’re like: ‘No, you can’t do that.’
“You feel quite protective over them because you do get positive feedback, and with Tim and Sally they’re a likeable couple and it would be a shame to go down that route.”
But that is exactly what happens when Tim wakes up in bed with Gina (Connie Hyde) following a boozy night out at the Street Cars Christmas do.
Unable to remember what happened, and with Gina grinning from ear to ear, Tim is mortified.
In the soap’s Christmas Day episode, he goes to see Sally (Sally Dynevor) in prison and tells her that he slept with her sister.
Joe, 48, adds: “Tim is utterly devastated that he has done something like this. He can’t believe it. The thing about Sally and Tim is that they’re monogamous, they love each other and they are loyal to each other.
Truth
“They don’t go off and have affairs – there are other things they can do with those characters.
“He’s utterly devastated to think that he has cheated on his wife.
“So he goes off to see Sally in prison on Christmas Day. He can’t keep a lie – how can you do that? He just throws caution to the wind and goes to tell her. He just feels he owes her the truth.
“In reality, I don’t know how a family would overcome a man sleeping with his wife’s sister. He doesn’t even expect her to forgive him. I think it’s pretty unforgivable, isn’t it?
“No matter how drunk you are, you kind of know what you’re doing!”
But what Tim doesn’t realise is that Gina has been scheming behind both their backs and helped to get Sally jailed.
Joe adds: “I don’t think she’s ever had any succes with men, has she? And suddenly she’s having success – well, thinks she’s having success with
Tim and she can’t believe it.
“She’s like a teenager. She’s fallen in love with her first boyfriend and gets very deluded.
“When he finds out
Tim doesn’t xpect her o forgive him
how she feels about him, he’s pretty disgusted.” Joe understands that with six episodes a week and the classic mix of drama and humour, no Corrie relationship is safe. He adds: “We are in the world of soap – there’s got to be some kind of conflict. “There’s got to be some kind of drama from somewhere, and these kind of things crop up and they choose whether to run with it or not.”
Joe also reveals that there’s some interesting stuff happening in the new year as Tim makes it his mission to get conman Duncan Radfield (Nicholas Gleaves) to confess in a bid to free Sally.
He adds: He’s got to try and get Sally out of prison – Tim can’t cope on his own, can he? Let’s face it. There’s some interesting stuff happening in the new year.
“There’s all that to look forward to but I can’t say any more...”
Corrie is on ITV on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm.