'Coronation Street': Harry Visinoni's girlfriend played screen mum's body double in death scenes

Coronation Street star Harry Visinoni has revealed his girlfriend played his screen mum's body double during his final scenes in the soap.

Visinoni's character Seb Franklin died in a shocking storyline last week that saw him attacked by a violent gang.

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But in the hospital scenes where Seb took his final breaths, Corrie viewers actually saw Visinoni's girlfriend Ellie Isaacs posing as Seb's mum's hand to comply with coronavirus filming restrictions.

Speaking on Lorraine on Monday, Visinoni said: "It was quite funny, quite a good moment, they asked me to bring in my girlfriend to play Abi's hand.

"So in the scenes aired on Friday, this hand here, this is my girlfriend's hand."

What was supposedly mum Abi's (Sally Carman) hand was shown cradling Seb's face as he lay in a hospital bed.

The actor continued: "Very funny, it was really nice, she got to see what I do before I left. She features in my last ever scene on the Street. It is big stuff."

But with his final scene as Seb including being wired up to hospital machines and some very realistic-looking make-up to recreate injuries, Visinoni admitted it had been a disturbing experience for his girlfriend.

He said: "Yeah, she was quite distressed!"

The heartbreaking storyline saw Seb and his girlfriend Nina Lucas (Mollie Gallagher) chased by a drunken, violent gang who had been targeting Nina over her goth appearance.

It was inspired by the real-life tragic case of Sophie Lancaster, who was killed aged 20 in a similar attack in 2007.

She had been walking home with her boyfriend when they were attacked in a Lancashire park by a group of teenage boys.

Coronation Street worked with Lancaster's family on the storyline and Visinoni talked about his responsibility to get his portrayal right.

He said: "For me, it was just about being as truthful as possible with it.

"The difference with this storyline to other storylines typically on a soap, this is based off something that actually happened. It is very important to get it right."

Watch: Coronation Street spoilers – Nina and Seb attack aftermath