Casualty star Charlotte Salt talks about paramedic Sam Nicholl’s relationships with Jacob, Iain and Dylan…
Casualty’s latest coupling has people talking! The attraction between paramedic Sam Nicholls and nurse Jacob Masters is palpable. However, their fun-loving flirtation was left under a cloud in last week’s Casualty when Jacob’s teenage son tried to kiss Sam just as she was getting ready to meet Jacob for a drink.
It’s possible Blake’s advances may put the breaks on Sam (Charlotte Salt) and Jacob (Charles Venn), but with Casualty on their two-week summer break until Saturday 14 July, fans will just have to wait and see how their romance develops...
But, being an impatient lot here at What’s on TV we couldn't wait. Here we talk to Charlotte Salt about Sam’s dalliance with Jacob, and how she really feels about fellow paramedic Iain Dean!
The flirtation between Jacob and Sam was unexpected…
"It started in the storm drain episode. Sam was really frustrated and Jacob helped her vent her complaints about the NHS and how she was being treated. Jacob was there for her, which started to fuel this romance."
Why did she turn to Jacob and not Iain (Michael Stevenson), who was also involved in the traumatic rescue?
"She couldn’t really vent her troubles to Iain because they work so closely together. It’s almost like Sam needed someone else outside of her job to vent to."
Sam and Iain have a complex history and an on-going flirtation. How would you describe their relationship at the moment?
"Think they’ve really found a friendship. They’re always touching on flirtation but that’s just how they function. Yet there’s a deep-down love and care there that runs deeper than the Jacob thing. Iain and Sam don’t realise it and dare not even go there because, if they did, it would be serious!"
So Sam’s romance with Jacob can't compare yet?
"With Jacob it’s escapism. Whereas Iain and Sam do so much heavy paramedic work together getting into something would be just too much. Jacob is emotional relief for Sam, she can step out and have some fun, until it becomes quite complicated when Jacob’s son Blake reveals he has a crush on her. What she thought was a light-hearted fling with lots of laughs may actually become a bit of a headache!"
Will Blake’s revelation that he has feeling for Sam change things between her and Jacob?
"Yes, Sam’s like – sort it out, he's your son. Her and Jacob are keeping things secret but it’s not a secret romance…"
Does this development mean her relationship with ex-husband Dylan is a closed chapter?
"Yes I think so. Will Beck, who plays Dylan, I always say it would be nice [to explore further] because there’s such a history with these characters. But the show is moving forward so we’re not dwelling on the past, which is a shame because I think the viewers would like it!"
Does your real-life husband Oliver [Coleman, who played doctor Tom Kent in Casualty from 2012 – 13] ever visit you on the Casualty set?
"We have a little boy now so it’s trickier but he visited before Christmas and everyone met our son, which was lovely. It was surreal to think that our little boy was running up and down the corridors where we met!"
Find out how Sam breaks the news to Jacob that Blake tried to kiss her when Casualty returns to BBC1 on 14 July.
