Coronation Street star admits Carla Connor’s ‘triggered’ amid baby bombshell

Alison King has told how Carla Connor is ‘triggered’ as she is left shocked by an unexpected arrival on the cobbles

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Alison King playing Carla Connor in Coronation Street(Image: ITV)

Coronation Street star Alison King has told how Carla Connor is ‘triggered’ by her baby niece as she is left shocked by the unexpected arrival on the cobbles this week.

As Corrie fans are aware, Alison has become best known for playing the Underworld factory boss, having made her debut back in 2006, and has faced a number of high-profile storylines over the years – including the Underworld Siege, her rape ordeal, her brother, Rob Donovan, killing Tina McIntyre and surviving two kidney transplants.

But another big part of Carla’s life in Weatherfield has been her relationships and it was recently revealed that she’ll tie the knot for the sixth time, having got engaged last year to local detective sergeant, Lisa Swain.

Back in January, the ITV soap’s producer Kate Brooks confirmed that the two characters would be hearing wedding bells this spring following their recent reunion, which came after a very turbulent time for the pair.

Lisa’s ex-wife, Becky Swain, returned from the dead and quite quickly put a spanner in the works for the newly engaged couple, who had also not long moved into their first home together, No.6 Coronation Street.

But fast forward to their reunion, shortly after Becky was sentenced to 12 years behind bars, and Carla has since surprised Lisa, by booking their wedding date at the Chariot Square Hotel, which will be April 23.

But before they are able to say ‘I Do’, during Monday’s (March 2) visit to Weatherfield, Carla opened the door of No.6 and was shocked to find a baby in a car seat on the doorstep. Lisa went after the woman hurrying away, only to discover the baby is Connie, the daughter of Carla’s brother, Rob Donovan, and prison guard Mandy, who were involved in Carla’s kidnapping and Rob’s jailbreak last year.

Despite being sweet with the baby at first, when Carla finds out it’s Rob and Mandy’s baby and that she’s agreed that they’ll look after her, Lisa very surprised by her fiancée’s reaction, and it wasn’ until later that Carla shared how she was really feeling, telling her future wife about how she suffered a miscarriage in 2014.

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Carla is stunned to find a baby on their doorstep(Image: ITV)

But Alison, who will celebrate 20 years in the role of Carla this year, has also shared what else is difficult for Carla when it comes to family. Speaking to TV Times magazine, the soap star said: “She really overreacts to the situation, it triggers her. I think that is because of her upbringing and her mum. She thinks she’s like her mother and she can’t cope with a child.

“She has been a good mother figure to Betsy [Lisa’s 18-year-old daughter, portrayed by Sydney Martin] because she can relate to that teenage angst, but she has not had that experience full on. She is possibly selling herself short. She never got to be a mum, but she probably would’ve been a really good one. She would just never believe or admit that.”

But both Alison and Vicky Myers, who plays Lisa, have been loving filming with baby Connie, aka twins Aoife and Erin O’Neill. Alison said: “Fabulous. They’re really good, beautiful babies. So, yeah, that’s got a bit of my maternal feelings flowing!”

Vicky added: “They’re both naturals – if they’re not treading the boards or on the big or small screen in years to come, I’ll be very surprised! They’ve been extremcly well-behaved, and they love being around people. There was one scene where Aoife was in her travel cot and let out a massive, cute sneeze. It didn’t quite go with the dialogue, but it wasvery sweet. There’s something very special about having babies on set. They bring a smile to everyone’s faces.”