Corrie's Charlie: 'Marcus and Maria could happen'

Corrie's Charlie: 'Marcus and Maria could happen'
Corrie's Charlie: 'Marcus and Maria could happen' (Image credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima)

Coronation Street star Charlie Condou says he's had 'positive' feedback about his alter-ego's upcoming romance. The 39-year-old actor's character on the ITV1 soap, midwife Marcus Dent, is to fall into bed with Maria Connor (Samia Ghadie) despite being gay. The couple, who are struggling with their emotions, have already kissed. "The reaction I'm getting on Twitter is positive. People generally want to see Marcus and Maria together," he told the Daily Mirror. "I'm 100 per cent behind the storyline. Some people will find it too strange and can't deal with it. But others will think that as long as they are happy, it's nobody else's business." Charlie said that the plot isn't that far-fetched, having been in a similar situation himself. "Some people say the gay community are going to be up in arms about the story, but it happens. There are some people who fall in love with a person, rather than a person's gender." The actor, who has a daughter with writer boyfriend Cameron Laux, has known that he was gay since his teens, but admitted that he had a five-month relationship with a woman when he was in his 20s. "I had relationships with girls when I was a teenager, probably because I was struggling with my sexuality and not comfortable enough to come out," he recalled. "When I was around 25, I had a longer relationship with a woman. We had a good sex life and I definitely fancied her. The relationship just didn't feel right and that's how I knew that I was definitely gay. It's not uncommon and I've come across it many times."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.