Coronation Street favourite Channique Sterling-Brown, better known as Dee-Dee Bailey in the hit ITV1 soap, jokes that she was secretly ticked off while filming her recent baby storyline.
The 28-year-old actor made the admission during an exclusive interview and photoshoot for TV Times magazine, on sale now, which has brought together four leading ladies from the soap world – Channique, EastEnders star Diane Parish (Denise Fox), Emmerdale’s Beth Cordingly (Ruby Miligan) and Hollyoaks star Jennifer Metcalfe (Mercedes McQueen) – to celebrate The British Soap Awards 2025 (see the celebratory TV Times cover below).
On-screen in Coronation Street, Dee-Dee recently gave birth to a baby girl, Laila, whose father is the now-late sexual predator Joel Deering (Calum Lill).
The solicitor decided to have her daughter adopted, and avoided contact with the little girl, who was cared for by relatives and friends before leaving the cobbles for a new life in America with Dee-Dee’s brother James (Jason Callender) and his partner Danny.
“At first, I was annoyed because Dee-Dee wasn’t holding the baby,” shares Channique. “I’d look at the screen and go, ‘Why on Earth is Michael Le Vell [Kevin Webster] holding Laila? Why don’t I get a cuddle?!’ There are two girls who play Laila, and they’re not related, but they’re equally gorgeous and really well-behaved.”
Channique Sterling-Brown on what's next for Dee-Dee and fans' reactions
As well as supporting her Corrie co-stars at The British Soap Awards — where she scooped the Best Newcomer gong two years ago — it’s a big week on-screen for Dee-Dee, who’s making steps to move on with her life when James and Laila unexpectedly return to Weatherfield. It means that once again, Laila is in her orbit, pulling on her heartstrings.
“I like that Dee-Dee has gone through with her decision [to have Laila adopted], but the return of James obviously really complicates things, and playing those complications has been really interesting,” says Channique.
“I still don’t know where it’s going to end. I do want her to have a bit of happiness and I’d love her to get back to her old self a little bit, so I think she’s going to have to confront that head-on.”
It seems that Corrie fans know what they want for Dee-Dee, as they’ve stopped Channique whilst she’s out and about, doing her shopping.
“I was at The Trafford Centre in Manchester recently, and six or seven women stopped me for a chit-chat,” she says. “They were really lovely, and were telling me to keep the baby. People really empathise with the character and really care about her, which is what you want.”
* You can read Channique’s exclusive interview in the latest issue of TV Times magazine, which is on sale now.
* The British Soap Awards will be screened on ITV1 on Thursday 5 June at 8pm
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
