BBC Breakfast presenters Jon Kay and Emma Vardy sat down with the cast of Coronation Street and Emmerdale ahead of Monday’s groundbreaking Corriedale episode.

ITV bosses unveiled plans last year for an unprecedented soap crossover, bringing together the worlds of Coronation Street and Emmerdale in an hour-long special christened Corriedale. The episode will also launch ITV’s fresh ‘soap power hour’ scheduling strategy for both programmes.

 

 

During Monday’s BBC Breakfast, Jon and Emma were joined by Coronation Street’s Julia Goulding, who portrays Shona Platt, Emmerdale’s Isabel Hodgins, who plays Victoria Sugden, and Iain MacLeod, executive producer for both soaps and Corriedale.

Throughout the chat, presenter Emma found herself rebuffed whilst attempting to extract exclusive spoilers. The host enquired: “Can you give us any other sneaky hints as to what goes on, just to whet people’s appetites a little bit more…”

Iain replied: “Erm… I can feel the press officer’s eyes in the back of my head as we speak!”, reports Bristol Live.

Emma quipped back: “Come on, we’re trying to get a scoop!”.

Iain elaborated: “I don’t want to give too much away, it’s honestly something I think if you know nothing about either show, you can tune in and enjoy it. I’m not a fan of spoilers.”

Emma then questioned both Julia and Isabel about the challenge of keeping plot details under wraps. Isabel revealed she frequently responds to spoiler-seekers: “Oh, if I tell you, it’ll ruin it for you, let the surprise happen on air!” Emma then cheekily retorted: “Using all my journalistic skills here!”.

Discussing Corriedale, Isabel revealed: “This was all kept very secret” to which Julia chimed in: “Yeah, definitely was, very cloak and dagger!”.

In another part of the conversation, host Jon’s attempt to stir up some soap rivalry fell flat.

Jon queried: “Was there rivalry between the Corrie cast and Emmerdale?”

Julia quickly dismissed this, saying: “No, I wouldn’t say so!” to which Jon playfully protested: “Oh, come on!”.

Julia elaborated: “No, I think both shows worked together as such families, coming together, we just formed one giant family and I think that’s basically how we all felt, I think.”

Iain then added his perspective: “I got the sense everyone was really keen to impress their opposite numbers on the opposite side of soaps so if anything everybody raised their game in terms of their professionalism and their acting and everything, everyone was right up there. It was a real joy to behold.”