Coronation Street’s Samia Longchambon reveals filming Maria’s wedding to Gary was ‘really tricky’ because of social distancing rules
Her character is set to marry Gary Windass but is oblivious to his involvement in two deaths .
And Samia Longchambon has revealed filming Maria’s wedding was ‘quite tricky’ as she had to stay socially distanced from Mikey North, who plays her on-screen beau.
The Coronation Street star, 38, who returned to filming last month, said the scene has been filmed ‘really cleverly’ so it looks like they’re standing next to each other.
New normal: Coronation Street’s Samia Longchambon has revealed filming Maria’s wedding was ‘quite tricky’ as she had to stay socially distanced from Mikey North who plays Gary
Speaking with The Mirror, Samia said: ‘The director shot it really cleverly so hopefully it doesn’t look like we’re too far apart saying our vows.
‘It was a bit tricky making it look like we were closer together – and putting the ring on, that was really tricky.’
The actress explained that viewers can expect to see her reaching towards Gary and him fiddling with the ring so it looks like she’s placed it on his finger.
Maria, who previously became engaged to her first husband Liam’s murderer, is set to marry Gary without knowing how he was involved with Rick and Rana’s deaths.
Clever camera work: The actress said it was particularly ‘tricky’ to film putting the rings on as they couldn’t stand close together
He killed Rick in self defence and accidentally caused Rana’s death when the factory roof collapsed after he had interfered with it.
Speaking about her character, Samia said Maria is ‘very naive’ and is too quick to trust new people.
She added: ‘She’s not got a great track record with murderers. I think she’d run a mile if she actually found out the truth. ‘
Ahead of her return to filming, Samia had been in lockdown with husband Sylvain and their son Yves, four, as well as her daughter Freya, 10, from her marriage to ex-husband Matthew Smith.
Coronation Street’s cast and crew returned to work in June- stepping foot on the famous set for the first time in almost three months.
Back to work! Samia returned to filming the soap in April, sharing a snap of her having transformed back into Maria
Production on the UK’s longest-running soap opera was halted at the end of March, when TV shows across the world began to shut down amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
ITV’s other veteran soap Emmerdale, as well as BBC’s EastEnders and Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, all ceased filming while the UK went into lockdown, with broadcasts slots reduced and fears that networks would run out of new episodes.
Under the television industry’s return-to-work rules, cast and crew have to keep away from one another, filming scenes with the UK’s continued 2 metre social distance rule in place.
She’s back! Samia shared a selfie of her freshly-styled tresses from her dressing room as she prepared to film her first scenes
Despite this, it’s been said by Corrie bosses that coronavirus will not dominate the forthcoming storylines. However, kissing scenes will be banned in accordance with the on-set rules.
ITV bosses previously confirmed that older cast members will be kept at home during the first few weeks of filming.
Cast and crew over the age of 70, or with an underlying health condition, will be kept at home during the early stages.
This may be sad news for soap fans, as cast members who fall into that age bracket include William Roache (who plays Ken Barlow), Barbara Knox (Rita Tanner), Sue Nicholls (Audrey Roberts) and Maureen Lipman (Evelyn Plummer).
Exciting: Coronation Street’s stars returned to filming in June for the first time in three months, but with strict social distancing measures in place (pictured on set)