‘Coronation Street’ star Tina O’Brien has told how her on-screen Platt family have a WhatsApp group off-screen - but they had to change the name to reflect their characters.
Coronation Street's Tina O’Brien reveals why Platt family had to change WhatsApp group name
The 39-year-old actress - who has played Sarah-Louise Platt on and off since 1999 on the ITV1 soap - admitted she “could get quite emotional” when talking about her on-screen family, Helen Worth, 72, Sue Nicholls, 79, Ben Price, 51, and Jack P. Shepherd, 35, who play Gail Platt, Audrey Roberts, Nick Tilsley and David Platt respectively.
She enjoys staying in touch with them all via group messaging, but they changed the name of their WhatsApp group from "Plattz" to "Platt Chat", because that was the group name used in the soap for their characters' conversations.
She told the Manchester Evening News newspaper: "I could get quite emotional about it. I love Helen and Sue so much. I started on that show when I was 16-year-old and Helen has shown me nothing but love since day one.
"And what she's managed to do is create a feeling on set that we are a collaboration. Not to be rude or anything but you can work with other people and they can be a bit this or be a bit that (but) Helen is all about making something that works and it's enabled us to find out own little faux family. I genuinely sometimes spend more time with the Platt family than I get to with my own family and I adore them all. Ben it the one I turn to for advice and we do have our own little 'Platt Chat' in real life.
"It was called 'Plattz', but when it came on-screen that we had 'Platt Chat' we changed it to reflect what's on screen."
Tina - who has 14-year-old daughter Scarlett with her ex boyfriend and former co-star Ryan Thomas, and son Beau, eight, with her husband Adam Crofts - reflected on Sarah’s “cruel and painful” behaviour with her husband Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson, 37) since the character's recent affair.
She said: "What he did was very cruel and painful, but there is a bit of me that thinks she behaved appallingly so she can’t start living in glass houses.
"I can see why she tried to do it and it’s come from the best intentions, but something like that’s never going to go well. I don’t think personally it’s something I could ever deal with on my conscience for my whole life. I think something like that must literally eat away at you."
Tagged in Sue Nicholls Tina O'Brien Helen Worth