Shelly Rossington (Natalie Amber)

[Perdita]

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/cor...ly-rossington/

Coronation Street has introduced a new character this month as part of Paul Foreman's Motor Neurone Disease (MND) storyline.

Shelly Rossington made her first appearance on the ITV soap last week, as Paul attended an MND support group.

Although a nervous Paul didn't stick around at the support group for too long, he later met Shelly again at the hospital and began to form a friendship. But what do we know about Shelly's future in the show and who plays her?

The role of Shelly is portrayed by Natalie Amber, who's not a soap newbie as she has previously guest starred in Casualty as Ella Thorndon. She has also appeared in Doctors, first in 2016 as Gemma Parnell and later in 2018 as Helen Shackleton.

Away from Soapland, Natalie has appeared in ITV's Paranoid and BBC dramas Silent Witness and Life, as well as several theatre roles.

Natalie announced her Corrie casting on Instagram last week, posting: "Shelly wheels into Weatherfield on tonight's Corrie #actorslife."

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In a 2016 interview tying in with her role in Paranoid, Natalie opened up about how she became a wheelchair user after suffering a fall which changed her life. She'd been building her career as an actor and dancer in London at the time, but had to take a break from the industry for a few years after becoming disabled.

Natalie told The Bolton News: "I suppose I always viewed disabled people much like many do ? as a separate group generally unconnected to me.

"Now, I want to stop people pigeonholing them and instead view anyone with a disability as an individual, quite capable of doing anything ? like taking on a variety of acting roles ? because there are people with disabilities in all walks of life."

She went on to name Coronation Street star Cherylee Houston (Izzy Armstrong) as someone doing a "fantastic job in beginning to alter people's conceptions of how a disabled actress can be".

However, Natalie added: "But, with the exception of a couple of production companies and a few individuals, there are still very few roles for people with disabilities. And what there is tends to be very stereotyped."

Natalie is a member of Equity's Deaf and Disabled committee, which helps to develop representation of deaf and disabled performers on stage and screen.

Natalie's Corrie character Shelly has MND and has struck up a bond with Paul in recent episodes. When they first met at the MND support group, Shelly called out Paul for behaving awkwardly around her, but they started getting to know each other better in a later meeting at the hospital.

Wednesday's episode (July 26) sees Paul introduce Shelly to his mum Bernie Winter and fianc? Billy Mayhew.

Digital Spy understands that we'll see more of Shelly in the coming weeks as Paul's storyline continues to develop.

[Perdita]

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/cor...ington-secret/

Coronation Street's Paul Foreman is set to discover a secret about his new friend Shelly Rossington next week, as he starts to reconsider his attitude towards fianc? Billy Mayhew.

After meeting Shelly in July, at a support group for people who have been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), he has formed a friendship with her, despite a slightly awkward first introduction.

In scenes airing on ITV next week, Paul calls at Shelly's flat and moans to her about the fact that Billy has been keen to get him a stairlift and a wheelchair, saying that he feels Billy is constantly interfering.

Shelly, however, reckons that he should be grateful to have so much support from Billy.

Taking her words on board, Paul returns home and suggests to Billy that they should go out for the day and enjoy themselves whilst they still can.

Later in the week, Paul and his mum Bernie Winter call round to see Shelly, and discover her surrounded by boxes and parcels, all of which contain a laptop.

Shelly confesses to the pair that she's been buying laptops on her old company credit card and then selling them on, so that she can raise money to pay for her carers.

Paul later presents Summer Spellman with one of Shelly's stolen laptops for her birthday, making out that it was going cheap.

Will Paul and Shelly be caught out?

Paul and Billy are currently preparing for their wedding, after Paul proposed to Billy earlier in the summer, with actors Peter Ash and Daniel Brocklebank having already filmed scenes for their characters' big day.

Meanwhile, actress Natalie Amber, who plays Shelly, has praised her Corrie role on Instagram, saying that it "is so important to that we talk more openly about living with life limiting illness".

In a previous interview, the star said that before she started using a wheelchair herself, she "viewed disabled people much like many do - as a separate group generally unconnected to me".

She added: "Now, I want to stop people pigeonholing them and instead view anyone with a disability as an individual, quite capable of doing anything - like taking on a variety of acting roles - because there are people with disabilities in all walks of life."