Coronation Street star Vicky Myers has revealed what fans can expect from Lisa and Carla Connor-Swain for the rest of the year, promising a happier Christmas than last year and plenty of Halloween fun.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, the actress who plays Lisa said the couple, known as Swarla by fans, are in a good place as a family unit with Ryan, after a year of obstacles caused by Lisa's ex-wife Becky Swain.
Happy Christmas and Halloween plans
Asked if it would be a happy Christmas for once, Vicky replied: "Yeah!" She also teased what was coming up for her character on Halloween, saying: "Just because it's Halloween, it doesn't have to be chaos and mayhem, it's perfectly fine."
On the couple's outfits for the Halloween episodes, she said: "Just wait until you see them! I can't really say too much about it, but I was having a chat with makeup, and I'd already suggested the costume and who Lisa should go as."
She added: "And then this person passed away the week that we were shooting it, and I couldn't believe it, because this person's a bit of an icon. I just love this person. So to do that, it is a great homage to this person."
Importance of individual stories
Vicky also stressed the importance of Lisa and Carla living their own lives on the Cobbles, as well as having scenes together, amid viewers commenting on an absence of Swarla scenes recently.
She explained: "It's important because we get to see them in their own professions and as individuals rather than as a unit. But that doesn't mean to say that they're not together, and I know that some people can catastrophise things."
She added: "But I think it's really important that we can show these women in their own way, in their own right. Because I think what's really important is that Lisa came in as this Detective Sergeant."
Vicky also praised her co-star Ali King, saying: "Carla's been a staple and an icon of the show for 20 years. I think it's something to celebrate! Especially how ever-changing this industry is, and the show is. For Ali [King] to have been here and portrayed this iconic character for 20 years with the same amount of energy and brilliance and level of curiosity is fantastic, and absolutely should be celebrated."
She continued: "People should be sort of singing it from the rooftops. But I do think it's important for the viewers to see them in their own profession and in their own right. It's good representation as well."
She also highlighted the importance of Betsy's story, saying: "We have to go to work. Life is very different to how it was years ago, and also with Betsy's story, it was really important to be a story of hope, after everything that happened. Because we move, we go on, we continue, we have to. There's no choice. So, I think for that as well, Betsy to have two working moms, that's also massively important."
Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X.
