Coronation Street resumes filming on 8 June as cast race to finish half-filmed episodes to stay on air says Andy Whyment

CORONATION Street is getting back to work in a matter of days – with the first job finishing eight half-filmed episodes.

The ITV soap was forced to suspend filming in March and cut the number of episodes broadcast due to the coronavirus.

Now, Andy Whyment – who is best known for playing Kirk Sutherland on the ITV show – has revealed the soap will do all it can to hit the ground running when it returns on Monday June 8.

Speaking on talkSPORT’s The Sports Bar with Andy Goldstein and Jason Cundy, the 39-year-old said: “They’re looking at going back around June 8th. That’s all dependent on government.

“It’s going to be completely different because of all the distancing, so it’s going to be interesting times when we go back.

“I think they had about eight episodes half-filmed, so they’re going to concentrate on getting them finished first and that will give us another three weeks then.

Andy Whyment revealed the cast will race to finish half-filmed episodes

Filming will be ‘different’ due to government guidelines

The soap is set to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year

“I do think ITV will want to get us back up to six episodes a week as soon as they can.”

Andy added how the pressure is also on for the show’s upcoming 60th anniversary special.

The soap star continued: “It’s a massive year for Corrie because we’re 60 in December, so we need to get back filming asap and crack on again. But once we’ve got those eight episodes filmed it will give us a little more leeway.

“There’s going to be no kissing or holding hands. If Kirk is walking down the street with Beth we sometimes link, or hold hands. But there’s going to be none of that going on.

“But everyone is going to have to get used to it. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Earlier this month, HOAR revealed that Corrie and Emmerdale will resume filming in June after bosses agreed an action plan to make working conditions safe.

A source explained: “ITV are sure they’ve come up with a solution to keep everyone safe. Production is starting up again in June.

“Emmerdale is being used as the benchmark for safety guidelines as they have a lot of space and it’s the perfect location to put the social distancing measures into practice.

“Everyone will be adhering to social ­distancing and scenes will be filmed with smaller groups.

“The teams will be able to film in certain ways which will minimise distancing. The scripting teams are working on creating storylines with fewer characters.”