Coronation Street star Sally Carman is married to one of her co-stars in real life(Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Coronation Street star Sally Carman has revealed what she really thinks about her co-star kissing her real-life husband Joe Duttine on the ITV soap. The 44-year-old, who plays Abi Franklin, first met Joe, 55, – best known for his role as Tim Metcalfe – on the set of Corrie back in 2018. After a string of ‘secret dates’, the pair moved in together before tying the knot in 2022.
They still work together on the cobbles, but their characters have never shared any romantic scenes. Instead, Joe’s on-screen wife – also called Sally – is played by veteran actress Sally Dynevor, 62, who recently celebrated 40 years on the world’s longest running soap opera.
But is Sally [Carman] worried about Joe kissing other woman on the telly? It doesn’t seem that way. She exclusively told The Mirror: “She’s [Sally Dynevor] is helping me out. It’s one less thing I have to do. That’s sounds awful, doesn’t it?!
Sally Carman and husband Joe Duttine met on the Corrie set back in 2018 (Image: Instagram )
The real-life couple moved in together shortly afterwards and got married in 2022(Image: Getty Images)
Backtracking, Sally continued: “I love kissing my husband. Honestly, when you’re filming kissing scenes, it’s 25 sweaty men around you, burping and all that, you have the lights on you, time schedules, it’s the least sexy thing ever. You can kiss whoever you need to, it’s fine.”
Opening up on what it’s like working with real-life husband Joe on set, Sally shared: “It’s awful. I don’t recommend it.” Explaining why, she revealed it’s because they have such a laugh together, he gives her the giggles before filming and then she can’t stop during filming when she gets into character. She said: “I give him a wide berth because he makes me laugh and and once I’ve gone, there’s no getting it back – and there’s tears, so it’s makeup retouching. I’m like, to myself, ‘Get it together,’ which makes its worse. He does it on purpose, so then I’m fuming with him!”
Joe Duttine, who plays Tim Metcalfe, kisses on-screen wife Sally in Corrie(Image: ITV)
Her character Abi hasn’t had the best time of it lately. A former drug addict whose son Seb was murdered in a brutal hate crime attack, she gave up her youngest two kids for adoption following an overdose.
After getting her act together, she seemed to land on her feet when she met Weatherfield mechanic Kevin Webster, played by actor Michael Le Vell. But after Seb’s death she cheated on him with lawyer Imran Habeeb, resulting in her getting pregnant with her fourth child, Alfie.
Kevin forgave Abi and Alfie was welcomed into their family life, living with them and Kevin’s older son Jack from a previous relationship. But when Kevin’s brother Carl came back on the scene, Abi embarked on a passionate affair with him.
It was only later that Abi realised Carl had cheated on her with James Bailey and was planning on leaving her and running away with sister Debbie’s money he had stolen while working at her hotel. In scenes this week, it was revealed that Debbie is actually Carl’s mum but she gave him away to her dad and stepmum as she was just 17 when she got pregnant.
But as it stands, only Debbie and Carl know the truth. And dementia sufferer Debbie has just been sent to prison over the Corriedale car crash that killed vicar Billy Mayhew – as she took the wrap for son Carl who was really the one behind the wheel.
Asked what’s next for Abi on the soap, Sally said: “She’s alright. I think she’s okay now after Carl. But I genuinely don’t know what they’ve got planned in the script.
“I don’t know if Abby and Kevin will get back together. I love working with Michael Le Vell and I miss him, so as long as we’ll still have some scenes together, I’ll be okay. She’s got a little flat, but who knows who she’ll end up with. We’ve been discussing it at work and there seems no one obvious at the moment.”
