Fans worried for the future of Alya Nazir on Coronation Street after actress Sair Khan was unveiled for I’m A Celebrity need not fret as it seems the Weathefield businesswoman will return to the cobbles.
Sair, 30, has explained her soap character will be keeping busy with matters happening off-screen while she gets stuck into Bushtucker trials with the other famous faces announced for the ITV reality series.
And the jungle-queen hopeful has also revealed Corrie bosses have been all in with her choice to head Down Under for the show, making every effort to accommodate her temporary hiatus in a way that makes storyline sense for Alya, too.
According to ITV, scriptwriters have been busily rearranging episode schedules to make sure Sair’s jaunt to Oz fits in with filming.
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And indeed, Alya does seem to have had a less prominent role in the soap over the last few weeks.
But that changeover in storyline focus is not new on Corrie.
And viewers will not forget about Alya during her screen break, especially after a hectic year which has seen her gain and then give away the Underworld knicker factory following Aidan O’Connor taking his own life, her brother move away after his marriage broke drown, and suffer the pain of boyfriend Luke Britton’s murder.
Thankfully, Sair’s character will not leave the Street in anything like as dramatic a manner as those departures.
“Alya will be busy working,” she explained.
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The Leeds-born star also admitted she was fascinated with whether I’m A Celeb viewers will confuse her with Alya, having played the role since 2014.
“The weirdest thing for me is going in as myself,” she said.
“My character is so different to me. She is serious, stern and she can be uptight. I am the opposite!”
Sair continued: “I am such a goof, I am always laughing, being cheeky and I don’t take myself too seriously.
“I guess people haven’t seen me and I want them to like me!
“If they don’t like her, that’s fine as it is a character but if they don’t like me, then that will be hard to take.”
She also joked she has no real ambition to be recognised a celebrity – but would be pleased if fans learned how to say her name properly.
“I don’t think my profile is very high,” she reveals.
“I am very much a normal girl who has a great job. If I come out and people know how to pronounce my name, then I will be happy with that.
“At the moment, most of the time it is ‘that girl from Coronation Street’.”
But with another Corrie colleague – Fiz star Jennie McAlpine – finishing fourth on I’m A Celebrity last year, Sair will be hoping to continue the success of soap stars on the show.
“Jennie told me to enjoy it fully and have the best time,” she told The Sun.
– Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV. I’m A Celebrity begins this Sunday at 9pm
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