ON THE BALL
FORMER CORRIE BAD GIRL NATALIE GUMEDE GUEST-STARS, AS THE DETECTIVES RUGBY-TACKLE THEIR LATEST CASE…
Actress Natalie Gumede – who played Tyrone’s abusive ex-fiancée Kirsty Soames in Coronation Street between 2011 and 2013 – makes a guest appearance in
McDonald & Dodds this week. A girly weekend goes horribly awry after a promising young rugby player is murdered following a fancy mansion party. Natalie – who’s joined by Finding Alice’s Sharon Rooney and Cold Feet’s John Thomson in the episode – insists we’re in for a cracker of a case… Hi, Natalie! Set the scene for us… The episode is set around a girls’ weekend away in Bath. They meet some rugby players at a club, but what starts off as a great night out goes wrong, and one of the players ends up dead. There’s lots of twists and turns, and the end certainly wasn’t something I’d have seen coming!
Tell us about your character…
I play Deborah, a sports agent for the murdered rugby player, Dominique. She’s ruthless, and a brilliant agent, because she cares a lot for her clients’ bank balances – as well as her own! She’s used to getting what she wants. But she isn’t particularly welcoming to McDonald and Dodds: they find out something about her and it exposes the lies she’s been telling…
And what about Jimmy (John Thomson), the chair of the rugby club? Jimmy’s very handsy with Deborah, and she takes advantage of that, but she’s only interested in business with him. I was so chuffed when I found out John was playing the role – he’s a bit of a national treasure!
Do you still get recognised for playing Corrie’s wicked Kirsty?
Kirsty was a long time ago now, but when you’re in a show as popular as that, it never fully goes away. Would I go back if they brought Kirsty out of prison? I think my time there was wonderful – but complete…