Coronation Street actor Rob Mallard has said there are emotional scenes in store for viewers as his partner copes with a cancer diagnosis.
In episodes to be aired from October 8, Mallard’s character Daniel Osbourne will plan a secret wedding for his pregnant girlfriend Sinead Tinker (Katie McGlynn), unaware she has been told she may have cervical cancer.
He organises a fairytale ceremony as she struggles to decide whether to confide in him.
Mallard, 26, who has been on the soap for two years, said his character will find the diagnosis hard to deal with.
He said: “I think what Daniel’s been doing is, because his life has been so sad for such a long time, he’s doing that really typical thing of trying to keep the high going for as long as possible. This relationship with Sinead has allowed him to have a more softer, more intimate and playful side.”
He said the scenes had been emotional, but added: “As an actor these are the things you want to get your teeth into.
“It’s very draining.
“You’re never going to get it right for everybody who watches it, not everybody who’s been through this is going to watch it and go ‘that is how it was’, but as long as there’s at least one moment where, if anyone who’s watching it has been affected by this, they can go ‘I recognise this’ or ‘that resonates with me’, then that’s a job well done.”
The actors worked with charity Mummy’s Star, which supports women and their families affected by cancer during pregnancy, and Mallard said he turned to YouTube vlogs to help with his research.
He said: “The thing that I was surprised about was people being really surprised how many selfish thoughts they had.
“So when someone else tells you that they’re going through something your reaction is, you would hope, in that moment to be completely devoted to them, and the reality of it is that you find out you’re just as selfish as the next person.
“That’s what I’m trying to emphasise with Daniel in this.”
The storyline could see Sinead forced to make a difficult decision about having cancer treatment while pregnant.
Mallard said: “Daniel definitely says to her the baby needs its mother, because he has grown up without his.”
But he said the actors had not been told how the story would end and whether Sinead or the baby would survive.
He said: “I’m not even sure it’s been decided yet.”