SOAP STAR I’m shocked we are turning Tyrone into a CORONATION CHEAT
FOR 23 years, Alan Halsall has been a firm favourite on the Coronation Street cobbles.
But the actor – who plays mechanic Tyrone Dobbs in the ITV soap – fears that may all be about to change after his character was caught cheating on partner Fiz.
Alan, 38, is dreading the feedback from fans who have taken his storyline with co-star Jennie Mcalpine a little too literally.
“I’m sure I’ll get clubbed round the ear in Tesco a few times for it, but these are the stories we want to be involved with and I’m glad to be a part of it,” he said.
“I hope that people are spitting out their cup of tea at half-seven on a Monday night, saying, ‘Ooh, what’s he doing now?’”
Tyrone and Fiz are one of Corrie’s most iconic couples. But their love for each other is being severely tested after Fiz learns that Tyrone locked lips with Alina, played by Ruxandra Porojnicu.
Devastation
Alan said he was “shocked” when ITV bosses revealed that they wanted nice-but-dim Tyrone to become a love cheat.
But he said that he and Jennie had talked everything through – and they're thrilled to be portraying the warring lovers on screen.
“It’s a controversial storyline,” Alan admitted. “It did come as a bit of surprise.
“Jennie thinks everyone will be on Tyrone’s side. She always says I could get away with murder – but I don’t think he will this time. I don’t think he’ll get away with it.
“He's definitely portrayed as the bad lad and rightly so. These feelings have come upon him without meaning, but he’s put himself in that position.
“We will see the devastation to Fiz but also the children, and I think people relate heavily to that.
“As a character, it’s fantastic. We want to be part of big stories.”
The fling will have far-reaching consequences for many people on the cobbles, but will it mean it’s all over for Tyrone and Fiz?
“It’s going to be very difficult after this story,” Alan said. “Some people get through testing times – and this will be a big one – but it might also be the making of them. I don’t know.
“That’s the joy of being actors – we also don’t know. We get the scripts and it’s a bit of a surprise to us, as this story was.
“The fantastic work that the writers do week in, week out… I’m prepared to go with whatever the script tells me to do.”
Alan believes viewers will be able to relate to Tyrone and Fiz’s problems as a result of the coronavirus lockdown pressures.
He said: “I think that in any relationship you have in life, there’s always huge tests – and it’s testing for every relationship in the world right now, just spending 24 hours a day stuck inside with each other.
"Myself and Jennie have known each other
for 20 years and there is not a day that goes by that I don’t love working with that woman.
“She’s the most professional and just a joy to work with on a day-to-day basis. Let’s just see where this story takes us.”
Thankfully Alan’s personal life couldn’t be more different to that of his character’s.
He’s loved up with former Corrie actress Tisha Merry, 27, who he met on the show in 2013. So what advice would Alan give to Tyrone if he were a pal?
“Where to start?” he said. “First of all, it
DRIVEN TO DESPAIR
I’m sure I’ll get clubbed round the ear in Tesco
for it
would be about his choice of clothing. Not a fan! But what can you say as a friend here? There’s no intention from Tyrone here, there’s no malice, there’s none of that.
“He just got caught up in it and these feelings are very real for him so I think, as a friend, all you could do is say, ‘Look, I’m there for you pal, try and do your best by everybody. You’re in a tough situation, but if you need somebody, I’m right here’.”
Alan, who shares seven-year-old daughter Sienna with his former wife and co-star Lucyjo Hudson, first walked on to the cobbles at
the age of 16 in November 1988. He was introduced as the tearaway son of Deirdre Rachid’s cellmate during the iconic Free The Weatherfield One storyline.
It threw him in at the deep end, working with some of the show’s biggest stars, such as Bill Tarmey and Liz Dawn.
The pair – who played iconic couple Jack and Vera Duckworth – would go on to become family to young Tyrone.
Alan recalled: “Honestly, I can remember my first day so vividly.
“With the very sad news that we’ve had of Johnny Briggs’ passing, he was one of the first people I saw in the Green Room and it feels like yesterday, but it also feels like I’ve done 23 years there.
“It’s such an odd feeling. It’s such a brilliant place to be on a daily basis and I’m glad Tyrone’s been a huge part of my life all that time. “I relate to him in a lot of ways and I don’t relate to him in a lot of other ways. But I’m hugely humbled to be a part of this show and to have played Tyrone for so long.
It makes my family so proud.”