Note: This article contains discussion of racist abuse.
Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street star Tanisha Gorey has revealed that her character Asha Alahan will be left feeling “petrified” after she comes face-to-face with her abuser in dramatic new scenes.
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Asha has been having a difficult spell in Weatherfield following the special one-off episode last month, with the paramedic being subjected to vile racist abuse by Naomi during a traumatic shift.
In scenes set to air next week, Asha will bump into her abuser and remind her of the ordeal that she was put through, though Naomi shows no signs of remorse as she warns Asha away from going to the authorities.
Speaking ahead of the emotional scenes, Gorey, who has been on the ITV soap since 2009, revealed that Asha would be scarred after overcoming the initial “shock” of meeting Naomi again.
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“The whole scenario is playing back in her [Asha’s] head a little,” said the actor. “Asha does try to see the good in people and she can’t quite comprehend that somebody could’ve done that.
“In general, she can’t comprehend that somebody could have been that horrible [and] aggressive. It’s taken her back to being scared, and now she hasn’t got her brother [Aadi] with her, she feels like she’s facing it alone a little bit.
“When she’s at work, she’s trying to prove [to] herself time and time again that she’s strong and mature enough to do this, but it takes her back into being like, ‘No, I can’t’. She’s petrified.”
Feeling downbeat, Asha confides in Bernie Winter about her run-in with Naomi, with her stepmother promptly asking her son Kit for advice. The policeman explains that it will be hard to charge Naomi given the only evidence is Asha’s word.
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“[Asha] confides in [Bernie], but not willingly,” explains Gorey. “Bernie just catches her in a situation on her own, where Asha doesn’t realise anyone’s home and she’s just a little bit stressed and Bernie’s there to help her, so she opens up.”
As explained by Gorey, Bernie attempts to “fix” the situation by snooping around on Naomi’s laptop at the careers fair, and she is horrified by what she discovers. Just as the villain begins to speak, Bernie interjects and tells the audience of her abuse.
With Nina Lucas and Amy Barlow recording the incident, a video is soon uploaded to social media, with Asha left horrified at Bernie’s intervention. To make matters worse, Naomi later states that she’s suing Bernie for defamation.
In explaining Asha’s reaction to Bernie’s move, Gorey said: “It pulls Asha back to, ‘I shouldn’t have said anything. I should’ve just dealt with this on my own, because now the situation’s 10 times worse than it needs to be’. So, it’s all push and pull.
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“[Asha’s] frustrated with her. Bernie just wanted to help, and what she does doesn’t help the situation whatsoever because Asha eventually does go down the right route in sorting the situation out, but what Bernie’s done cancels that out.
“So, it’s more [about] Asha realising that she needs to listen to herself and what’s right. Bernie oversteps but oversteps with love. Bernie absolutely stands by what she’s done and said, and nobody can quite see what Bernie sees.
“Her heart’s in it, she’s doing it for all the right reasons, but ultimately, the outcome isn’t great for her and she does see the consequences of her actions, but it’s all done with love, so there’s got to be some forgiveness there.”
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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If you’ve been affected by racism and racist hate crime, then organisations including the Equality and Advisory Support Service (EASS), the Monitoring Group, Stand Against Racism and Inequality (SARI) and Stop Hate UK are among those which can offer help and support.