Coronation Street’s Imran and Toyah are due for a baby bombshell this Christmas.
After struggling to have children of their own and deciding to become foster parents, the couple were torn over what to do when they were finally given the go-ahead just as Toyah’s sister Leanne lost her son Oliver after a tragic battle with the rare mitochondrial disease.
But now, the on-screen couple are set for a shake up as they’re handed a baby boy named Mason to foster during the festive period.
Speaking about his new storyline, Imran actor Charlie de Melo revealed what it will mean to Imran and Toyah, played by Georgia Taylor, and the effects it will have on their loved ones.
He said: “I think [Imran will make a good foster parent]. I think he’s got the makings of a good dad. He’s professional and able to provide a stable base but I think he can also be quite light and wouldn’t be an authoritarian-type person either. I think he would balance quite well, as would Toyah.
“As someone who works in mental health I can only imagine that will be a helpful thing.”
On Christmas Eve, Imran and Toyah will welcome baby Mason into their home.
Charlie said: “It’s panic stations initially because it’s a very last-minute placement.
“This idea of a foster child coming in is all quite abstract to them, they’re trying to deal with logistical stuff and then it’s like, ‘Here’s a little person’.
“Any parents watching it will be like, ‘Yeah, it’s difficult’.”
Charlie confessed that Imran will be worried about Toyah after the couple discover they’ll only have Mason for a short while.
He said: “I think that would be something that would 100% be playing on the back of his mind because Toyah’s relationship with children and her want to have children has been such a huge part of her life and quite a destructive part of her life.
“Although steps have been made and she’s healthier in that regard, I think it would perhaps be irresponsible of Imran to not at least consider that when it comes to having this particularly short-term foster situation where you come in and bond and they’re gone, and have that rip and tear of that kind of dynamic. That would be difficult for anybody, particularly for someone who’s been wanting a child in their life for so long.”
The couple will be offered another child very quickly after Mason is taken back, and Imran makes a decision without consulting Toyah first.
When asked if that was the right thing to do, Charlie confessed: “Probably not.
“He’s trying to do right by her but he is also making an executive decision about them as a couple and with the best will in the world that’s only going to lead to upset.
“It’s a mistake that he’s made with Toyah in the past and she’s dragged him over the coals for it before in as kindly a way as she could, so it’s the kind of road to hell paved with good intentions.
“He’s trying to do right by her but by doing so is essentially being, at best, patronising.”
Imran and Toyah have been worried about the effect that their fostering duties could have on Leanne after the loss of her child.
And what the couple don’t know when they welcome baby Mason is that Leanne is still on the street when they think she isn’t.
Charlie said thinking Leanne isn’t around is a relief for the couple.
He spilled: “I think for Toyah in particular because she’s been enveloped in Leanne’s heartbreak in such a big way, the idea of bringing a child into our little family felt cruel and I think having a bit of distance and having Leanne away was good.
(Image: ITV)
“It could be a case of Mason comes and goes whilst Leanne’s not even there so it’s trying to put it off, trying to divorce the two situations a bit.”
Charlie also gushed about working with Georgia as he spoke about the relationship between Imran and Toyah.
He said: “First and foremost working with Georgia is an unparalleled joy, so on a personal level that’s something that I love.
“The two of them, they came together as such opposites and as time’s gone on they’ve kind of just ended up finding a nice sort of equilibrium and middle ground between them whilst, I don’t think, sacrificing what made them who they were.
“It’s hard to say really because on paper I don’t necessarily think they would work because she can be seen as this sort of hippie dippy and flighty, or she has been in the past at least, and him in the past has been this smug, womanising lawyer.
“When they were paired together they were able to just compliment each other in a sort of chalk and cheese way I guess and the slightly less appealing parts of their personalities seemed to melt away and they accentuate the best in each other.”
Charlie also spoke about the reaction to his character’s impassioned speech as he defended Yasmeen Metcalfe at her trial for the attempted murder of her abusive husband Geoff.
He said it was something he never expected.
He explained: “When I read it I knew that it was good, and it was sort of a bit Aaron Sorkin-y, like A Few Good Men-ish in the way it was written so I was really excited on a personal level because of that. I think [Geoff actor Ian Bartholomew] was as well.
“But that’s when it’s in the abstract and you’re sort of visualising someone else doing it, and then the crushing realisation that ‘Oh damn, this is going to be me, I’ve got to do this’.
“I was mostly terrified if I’m honest and the fact it has gone down well is very, very thrilling. It’s a huge relief really and I’m very grateful.”
Charlie agreed that his character was finally saying everything to Geoff that viewers have been dying to say to him for months.
He said: “Being able to dress down an abuser like that in a very public way, that was incredibly cathartic for me at least to get the opportunity to do that.
“It seems like it’s resonated with a lot of people as well as the whole story did.”
* Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV
Originally from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/corries-charlie-de-melo-spills-23188209