Yahoo News Corrie star Samia: 'I can't defend Maria's affair'
Coronation Street's Maria Connor should watch her back next week as her scandalous affair with Aidan gets uncovered by the factory boss's feisty fiancée Eva Price.
As Eva decides to concentrate on secretly getting revenge rather than confronting the cheating pair straight away, the stage is set for a huge summer plotline which is sure to keep fans gripped over the next few months.
Digital Spy and other media recently paid a visit to the Corrie set to hear Samia Longchambon, who plays Maria, chatting about the story's future and the fireworks to come.
Does Maria genuinely think that Aidan will dump Eva for her?
"Yes, in a word! Maria is a massive fool, I feel like banging her head against a wall. When I read the scripts, it's so frustrating because I'm thinking: 'She should have learned by now, she should have learned about 16 years ago when Tyrone cheated on her with Fiz!'
"But she does think that Aidan is going to dump Eva because he keeps telling her he's going to, but there's always a reason why he doesn't. To Maria, it seems like a valid reason at the time, but David is like her conscience on her shoulder. He keeps saying, 'Stop falling for it, he's just stringing you along, you should know better'. Which she should!"
Does Maria want to settle down with Aidan?
"Totally, she does love him. It's not just a lust thing. She's got that history with Aidan as well because he's the cousin of Liam, which you sort of forget about. He was also completely there for her when crazy Caz was on the loose. She totally believes that he's in love with her and that ultimately he wants to choose her over Eva."
Is Maria worried about the repercussions of her affair?
"I think she is. She doesn't want to hurt Eva at all. She's not doing this to be vindictive or to be a bitch, she's just genuinely in love with Aidan and thinks that she's more suited to him than Eva is. But yeah, she is worried. I'd be worried, I wouldn't want a beating off Eva! I don't fancy Maria's chances when she finds out."
So could there be an Eileen and Gail-style catfight?
"I was just gonna say that! It would be like the Eileen and Gail fight all over again, wouldn't it? Maybe Maria would be a little warrior like Gail, we'll see. We've not filmed that, I'm looking forward to that."
How do you feel about Maria being the one who reignited the affair with Aidan?
"Yeah, I'm not even gonna defend that! At the time, I actually questioned that in the script. I was like: 'Would she really do this?' Me and the story editors had a chat about it, because I thought, 'She's just got out of prison, she's come out stronger, she said to him before that she's not happy being his bit on the side'.
"But actually, when we talked it through, it's because Maria does believe that there's a chance for them and that's why she does it. She's thinking, 'Yeah, I'll say I'm happy to go along with an affair, but by doing that, you're gonna realise that I'm the woman of your dreams'."
Have you enjoyed doing this storyline?
"I have, yeah. It's been lots of fun and obviously it's great working with Cath [Tyldesley, who plays Eva] and Shayne [Ward, who plays Aidan] anyway, but each week we've been opening the scripts and there's been more twists and turns. It's been a classic love triangle, but it doesn't feel like it's dragged on and on and on, because each week there's been different things happening to take it in other directions."
Eva has a big revenge plan brewing once she knows the truth. What would you do to Aidan in her shoes?
"I'd have prawns in the curtain rail and everything, me! I'd cut one leg out of all his suits and everything, I'd go bunny boiler on it. Which probably isn't far from what Eva's going to do, to be fair!"
Does Maria finding out about Eva's pregnancy change anything?
"Massively. That's a complete game changer, because I think Maria realises in that moment that Aidan has been stringing her along.
"Also, when Maria finds out that Eva is pregnant, Aidan runs out to her outside and she says: 'This is it now, you need to sort your head out. I've watched Liam grow up without a dad and I wouldn't wish that on any child, so I'm done'. So that is where her head's at when she finds out. So that is a bit of closure of her, in a way."
What do viewers think of Maria at the moment?
"I've not had too much hate, which is quite nice. People are just warning me and saying nothing good's going to come out of it, which I kind of agree with. They're just seeing it for what it is really, it's an affair and no good comes out of affairs. So I'm getting lots of friendly warnings off people in the street, which is nice!"
Are you resigned to the fact that Maria doesn't get much luck?
"Yeah, I kind of see Maria as the girl next door who is never going to quite get that happy ending that she always craves. Her heart is in the right place and she loves her friends and family, but she's got that missing piece. I think she'll never replicate that big love that she had with Liam and I think he was the love of her life. As much as she's searched for it, she's never quite found it, which is quite sad really."
What would you like to see happen to her next?
"I think Maria and David should get it together. I keep saying that to Jack [P Shepherd, who plays David]."
Does he agree?
"As much as Jack agrees on anything, which is a good sign! He's not opposed to it. Jack rarely gets excited about stuff! (Laughs.) I love working with Jack as well. I think in some ways, Maria and David are quite similar in that they've both had their husband and wife murdered, they've both got kids, they've both worked in the salon all these years and grown up together and they know each other inside out.
"But in a way I quite like playing that they are such good friends and you want them to get together but they won't, so it's quite nice playing it like that."
Will there be more tension ahead between Maria and Toyah?
"Yeah, I think that's going to be there to stay which is going to be fun. Obviously I think it'll all hit the fan because Toyah and Eva are very close and obviously Leanne is Eva's sister and Michelle is Maria's sister in law. It's kind of 'them and us' at the moment, it's kind of two tribes going to war. So it'll be quite fun when it all hits the fan!"
You've been in the show for 17 years, but can you see yourself doing another 17?
"I don't know. When I joined it was just for three months and that seemed a long time, because when you're a jobbing actress, anything longer than a week is like a long term job. So I don't know. I try not to think that far ahead. I'm going to be here for the foreseeable, so that's nice. I love the job."
Aside from dating David Platt, is there anything else you'd like to see happen to Maria next?
"It's an interesting question. I always leave it up to the writers because they tend to know what they're doing, and they've steered me in lots of different directions which have been interesting over the years. From my own point of view, I'd quite like her to redeem herself a little bit and stop being known as the Weatherfield bike for a while, that would be really nice."
What advice would you give to Maria?
"To just lay off the guys and to concentrate on being a mum and being a good friend. Just to concentrate on other things and not go looking for love so much, because it'll happen if it's gonna happen."
Coronation Street continues on Monday and Friday next week on ITV.
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Digital Spy Soap Scoop video – hit play below for all the latest Coronation Street gossip, as Aidan and Maria's affair is finally exposed, while Phelan has a bombshell to drop.
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