Gemma’s whole world will change (Pictures: ITV)
Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) will soon discover the devastating news her twin brother, Paul Foreman (Peter Ash), is dying after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease in Coronation Street.
Paul initially began to wonder if he had sustained a long-term hand injury after Carla (Alison King) knocked him off Peter’s (Chris Gascoyne) bike a few months ago.
However, after a few tests, Paul was told he has MND.
Following this news, Paul distracted his mind by taking on dangerous and dodgy jobs for Damon (Ciaran Griffiths), doing whatever he can to prevent him from facing his heart-breaking reality.
However, with his sister’s wedding approaching, could things be set to change for Paul as he finally finds the courage to tell his family?
And when the time eventually comes, how will they all react?
‘She’s going to be completely devastated’, Dolly-Rose Campbell told us, revealing Gemma’s reaction to the news.
‘They’re not just brother and sister, they’re twins, they’ve been together their whole lives. I think her approach would be to stay strong, they are a bit of an out-there family, but they do love each other, they stick together, and they want what’s best for each other.
‘Paul is very stubborn, and he wants everything to be his way’, she added, explaining why Gemma is yet to realise something is wrong with her brother.
‘He doesn’t want to be seen as weak; he doesn’t want to off load it all on the family. He’s doing a good job of hiding it but on top of that Gemma’s life is so hectic with her family and her work and all her worries that I don’t think it’s just the wedding as to why she wouldn’t notice. Her life in general is so busy, so noticing even things right in front of her she probably struggles with.’
Unaware of Paul’s secret, Gemma is determined to have the best, most extravagant wedding ever!
Of course this is Gemma’s dress, of course (Picture: ITV)
With a bright orange dress, fabulous hair and the food finally sorted after a few disagreements involving Joseph’s (William Flanagan) gran, everything looks set for Gemma and for Dolly, she can’t believe she’s bagged herself an iconic soap wedding.
Paul hasn’t told his family about his condition just yet (Picture: ITV)
‘The weddings are always a bit of a centre point for some of the stories in Coronation Street. I remember watching Roy and Hayley when they got married and Dev and Sunita when they got married. Theirs was really fun. To actually be able to be the bride in a Corrie wedding is a real honour.
‘I think her and Chesney compliment each other perfectly because he’s like the calm side to all her crazy hyper side, he brings her back down to earth and he just loves and accepts her for who she is’, Dolly added.
‘He doesn’t try and change her. He puts up with all her family and they’re a great team together raising the family. They just work really well together and they’re best friends at the heart of it.’
Raising funds for the wedding hasn’t been easy (Picture: ITV)
In the show, Gemma’s son, Aled, is deaf, which meant the family had to learn British Sign Language in order to communicate with the young boy.
In real life, Joseph – who plays Aled – is also deaf and for Dolly, she felt it was incredibly important for either her, Sam [Aston, who plays Chesney] or Jane [Hazlegrove, who plays Bernie] to learn BSL in order to help him and his deaf parents feel more included.
‘For me, as we were going to have a deaf actor on set as part of our family, and because he can’t learn not to be deaf, it made sense for me, or Sam, or Jane to learn BSL so we can help him’, she explained.
Gemma and Chesney’s son, Aled, is deaf (Picture: ITV)
‘The actor that we’ve got, his parents are also deaf so it’s nice to be able to talk to them, and make them feel included, because it can be quite difficult sometimes for deaf people, the support they need is not always there, and the more people that can sign the easier that it is for them.’
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Discussing what it’s been like to learn the language, Dolly added: ‘There have been times where I’ve been filming a scene where Gemma and Bernie are talking, but at the same time, I’m having a completely different conversation with Joseph [who plays Aled] in sign, that’s not related to the scene.
‘Things like that have started to happen that I never would’ve known about if I didn’t sign…I even had my first dream in sign language!’.
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Gemma will lose her twin brother.
