Gina’s story
Julie Lordan visits the set of Corrie to met Connie Hyde, whose character Gina Seddon is creating big problems for herself
Gina Seddon has fallen for Tim Metcalfe, who is married to her sister, Sally, who happens to be in prison on a false charge. Gina has moved into her house to look after Tim, his daughter Faye and Sally’s daughter Sophie. It should be a perfect set-up, putting Sally’s mind at rest, but, in soapland, nothing is ever that straightforward.
Gina, has developed feelings for Tim, who is oblivious; all he wants is for Sally to come home.
Gina is a complicated personality, with plenty of problems and taking the risk of alienating her sister Sally, with the huge consequences that are bound to follow, is not a wise move.
Is their relationship less close than Sally believes? “I love the dynamic that Sally and Gina have”, says Connie Hyde, who plays Gina. “They grew up in a very dysfunctional family. Sally got out and Gina didn’t, so I think that is the cause of a lot of her problems. Also, she has a bipolar disorder. She is glad that Sally has it all, but is also wishing for the life that Sally has.”
Gina has had bad luck in previous relationships and now here’s Tim who she believes is a perfect match for her and such a nice, decent guy. But he has no interest in Gina; he wants to save his marriage and is shocked when he suspects that Gina might have feelings for him.
Connie explains why Tim has become important to Gina. “Tim is not that complicated and Gina is quite chaotic. He is nice to her and that’s unique in her relationships with men. She misconstrued some of the signs. She is very different to Sally; she will sit there with Tim drinking beer and watching zombie movies. They get on as mates very much.”
From Gina’s perspective, Connie believes “Nothing is planned, Gina is not being evil.
She is often irrational without thinking things through very well. She acts without thinking of the consequences, which has also to do with her bipolar disorder.”
Viewers are very fond of Sally and Tim as a couple and now that Sally is in prison, it’s fair to say that fans will be rooting for her. That means anger being directed towards Gina, and in the social media world, that can have consequences. “The way it’s being played, though, is that Gina is quite a sad character and in a lot of ways there should be sympathy for her,” says Connie. “But Sally is one of the most loved characters and when I got the script I thought ‘Oh no’, but, you know, I don’t look at Twitter at all, it’s best for me. People are lovely when I meet them on the street. Of course, that might change,” she laughs.
One reason viewers’ attitudes might change is that Tim confides in Gina saying he feels like an idiot for believing Sally had an affair. Sally tells Gina she’s glad Tim is ready to talk, so things are looking up for the couple. But Gina suggests to Sally that she shouldn’t meet with Tim yet as he’s still too angry with her. Unaware of Gina’s scheming, Tim is upset when Sally then cancels their meeting. The real trouble starts with a kiss. Tim doesn’t have feelings for Gina, but he does kiss her and though it means nothing to him, it’s a mistake.
Also, how would Sally react if she found out? “Well to be honest, Gina isn’t really a threat to Sally’s marriage and Sally knows that, but with Sally in prison it’s a different story. Of course, Sally has been good to Gina, which she reminds her of, regularly.”
In another world, Tim and Gina could be good together. “Tim is uncomplicated: as long as his tea is on the table, he is happy,” says Gina “and that suits her just fine. But Tim would soon get sick of Gina, I think, because she is really very scatty and difficult.”
Part of what is going on now is that if it emerges – and it will, of course – that Gina is in love with Tim, she will lose her relationship with Sally forever and also with Sally’s daughter, Sophie. “Again, Gina does not think of the consequences, but the end result could be disastrous for her.”
On some level, Gina knows what she’s doing is not right and she tries to take things in a different direction, by using a dating site. Of course, coincidentally, her first date is with Duncan, who has framed Sally and is the reason she is in prison. But when he tells her that he and Sally had an affair, Gina believes him, and therefore feels that maybe Sally does not deserve Tim and her happy life.
“She’s quite appalled by this!” says Connie, “and a small but signi cant thing is that Duncan tells Gina that Sally thinks she is really thick. Of course, Gina is very hurt by this: further reason for her to feel less guilty.”
Connie feels she has a responsibility of care to people with bipolar disorder and did a lot of research on the subject. She has got a positive response from people with experience of the disorder. is is important to her. “ e reaction seems to be that it’s good to have a light shone on the subject”, says Connie, “and a lot more people su er from bipolar disorder than the statistics show. Of course, it a ects everyone di erently. At the moment, Gina is very stable, because she’s on medication and is in a lovely home with a job and friends, so it is a good patch. But without giving anything away, you will see Gina’s moods darken”, says Connie.
As Sally will probably be in prison for a while, Gina will have plenty of time to work on Tim. Poor Tim seems to have very little idea of what’s going on. It is going to be a very dramatic Christmas season for the Gina-Sally-Tim trio, with all to play for in the New Year.
As for her own Christmas, Connie will have a traditional one with her family. She plans on giving present of fresh vegetables from her allotment, something she is passionate about. “ e rest of the cast will be getting Brussels sprouts from me,” she says.