CORONATION Street boss Iain MacLeod has teased plans for two of the soap’s leading child stars to become ‘the next Ant and Dec’.
The soap’s head honcho teased all about the soap’s upcoming plans during an appearance on ITV lunchtime show Loose Women as part of their ‘super soap month’.
Corrie boss Iain has high hopes for two of the show’s child stars
He has plans for Hope and Sam to be the next Ant & Dec
He chatted about the pair’s future
During the chat, panellist and former Corrie star herself, Denise Welch was keen to see what the boss had planned for young Hope Stape, played by Isabella Flanagan.
Viewers have seen Hope go off the rails in recent months amid a difficult time for her parents Fiz and Tyrone dealing with the death of Hope’s biological father, the wicked John Stape.
But show boss Iain had a surprising answer as he admitted he had long-term plans to turn Isabella and her co-star Jude Riordan, who plays Sam Blakeman, into the next Ant and Dec.
Iain said on the show: “With Hope and Sam, we are taking them as kind of our benchmark PJ and Duncan, or Ant and Dec.
“What if we can take these two kids who are, like, ten and grow them for a decade into this incredibly rich storied friendship so that’s what we are hoping to do.”
Iain then quipped: “Both of those actors are so talented so they both might be off to Hollywood when they are 14.
“If we can keep them then we are trying to PJ and Duncan them up.”
He admitted that fans would start to see a toned-down version of mischievous Hope in coming months as he confirmed plans to see a more ordinary side to the pre-teen.
Iain said the show will continue to explore the friendship between Hope and Sam and that viewers will start to see the blossoming of a pre-teen romance when the pair experience their first crushes.
It comes amid the news of Coronation Street’s next hard-hitting story which will see Aaron Sandford rape Amy Barlow.
In an upcoming episode, viewers will watch as Amy and Aaron find themselves having a drunken kiss whilst back at the flat after Aaron has a row with girlfriend Summer (Harriet Bibby).
The pair will then decide to move to the bedroom where Amy begins to get undressed but later admits that she feels sick as she rolls over on the bed.
Aaron continues to kiss Amy, and as the scene continues, rapes her.
Amy will not realise what has occurred until she wakes up the following morning.
Hope will soon see a new arc to her storyline
