Will Seb come clean?

Corrie’s Harry Visinoni on his character’s fear of telling his girlfriend he has a serious illness

There are hard lives and then there’s the appalling hand dealt to Coronation Street’s Seb Franklin. Raised by a heroin addict mother and an abusive stepfather, he brought up his younger twin siblings who are now in care, was given HIV by a girlfriend who died, and spent time in a young offenders’ institution.

But after going through yet more hell at the hands of his murderous former boss Pat Phelan – who knocked him unconscious before being bumped off himself – there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

Seb’s mum, Abi, is now drug-free and working as a mechanic at Webster’s Autocentre, while the builder last week asked the Street’s ditzy new hairdresser Emma Brooker on a date.

‘To say life’s been tough for Seb is an understatement,’ says Harry Visinoni, who plays Seb. ‘But despite what happened with Phelan, this is probably the most positive time of his life.’

However, the course of true love won’t run smoothly as Seb struggles to decide how and when to tell Emma he has HIV. He has a chance this week when they go on a date, but Seb can’t pluck up the courage to come clean.

‘ Seb wants to be honest with Emma,’ explains Harry, 19. ‘He wants it in the open before the relationship

progresses, but he bottles it – he finds it difficult to get his words out.’

It’s particularly unfortunate, adds Harry, as he reckons Emma may well be fine about it. ‘Knowing what she’s like, she’d probably be very understanding. But you’ll just have to watch to see how it all plays out...’

Having previously dated Faye Windass, in a relationship fraught with problems after Faye’s mum Anna initially banned her from seeing the tearaway, what does Seb see in Emma? ‘After what happened with Faye, Seb likes the idea of a chilled relationship, which he thinks he’ll get with Emma.’

Faye’s jealousy at seeing her ex and his new girlfriend could complicate matters though. ‘Faye’s still in love with him, so there may be potential for their romance to rekindle,’ says Harry.

This is Corrie’s first HIV story-

line, and Harry couldn’t be prouder to have been asked to be part of it. ‘It’s an honour and a great opportunity,’ he says. ‘I didn’t realise people could live a normal life with HIV, and I know others will also have that ignorance, so it’s great to be getting that message across.’

Harry also thinks having the condition will give Seb’s character an added dimension. ‘ Because Seb’s always going to be coping with HIV and taking it into account when dealing with other people, it can help him grow,’ he says.

Whatever’s in store for his character, Harry, whose only previous acting work was one episode of Doctors, says he’s delighted to be in Corrie.

‘I love being here. There’s nowhere better I could have ended up.’