Coronation Street actress Katie McGlynn has said she feels like she is grieving as heartbreaking scenes of her character Sinead Osbourne losing her battle with cancer are due to be aired.
Episodes shown next Thursday and Friday will show the young mother’s final moments and her husband Daniel, played by Rob Mallard, as he says goodbye.
Sinead was diagnosed with cervical cancer while pregnant with son Bertie last year and, after it seemed she was responding well to treatment, she discovered a lump on her wedding day last month and was devastated to be given a terminal diagnosis.
The actors said they spent an intense two weeks on the set of the bedroom filming her final scenes.
McGlynn said: “You can’t switch off really.
“I’ve recently just suddenly got really sad and I actually feel like I’m grieving, where you get waves of sadness.
“It is hard to watch. When we were in that room it just felt real for us. In order to get yourself to that place, we felt like somebody had actually died.”
Mallard added: “There usually isn’t a problem between the end of the scene and going home and doing whatever but during that two weeks it was almost impossible not to carry it home.”
McGlynn, 26, said the storyline had a lasting effect on her.
“I don’t take life for granted as much as I did I guess, I’ve been a bit more emotional with my friends and family, as in more caring and loving,” she said.
The show has worked with charities Mummy’s Star and Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and medical advisers were on set as they filmed to ensure the scenes were realistic.
The half-hour episode next Thursday and a one-hour show next Friday will focus solely on Sinead’s storyline as her family visit her at her bedside.
If you have been affected by #Sinead and #Daniel's story in @itvcorrie and need support with #cancer and #pregnancy. Please get in touch, we're here to help and support you. https://t.co/3sfLp4ALwj #mummysstar #cancer #support Image courtesy of ITV. pic.twitter.com/eIF4lyQt3m
— Mummy's Star (@MummysStar) October 9, 2019
Producer Iain MacLeod said: “It felt like the respectful way of doing it and the most interesting way of doing it and the least soapy way of doing it was to just be in there really and see the difficulties they both experience, see the moments of laughter that were still in there, the moments of warmth and just let it tell its own story and take its own time.
“It was a conscious decision not to fast forward that. I also feel like after you’ve told a story for two years or 18 months it would be remiss to gallop through the end.”
Mallard , 27, said while filming the storyline he had spoken to Pete Wallroth, who founded charity Mummy’s Star when his wife died shortly after the birth of their daughter.
Mr Wallroth said: “I probably disclosed some things to Rob that I’ve never really talked about in terms of really conflicting things that you can think in the midst of supporting somebody through a diagnosis, some of the guilt that comes with that which I think is really reflected in the way the story has panned out.”
Rebecca Shoesmith, head of support services at Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, said: “Nine women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every day in the UK and if caught early it is a very treatable cancer so it is fantastic that the programme has been able to raise awareness of the disease.”