Coronation Street’s Simon Gregson on Steve’s baby drama – “He should leave the country!”
Coronation Street’s Simon Gregson has revealed the one piece of advice he would give his alter ego over his baby drama – leave the country quickly!
Steve McDonald has got himself into the daddy of all dilemmas as he’s the father of Leanne Battersby’s baby and next week he finds out wife Michelle is expecting too.
Here Simon admits Steve is in bad shape and should maybe think about doing a runner…
How’s Steve been feeling since he found out Leanne’s pregnant? When he finds out that Leanne is pregnant, his whole world crumbles around him. He initially thought that him and Michelle were officially over, and that she was going to go. He had gone over to Leanne’s very innocently and one thing leads to another, after some drinks. They’re both in the same headspace, and they end up sleeping together. He’s feeling extremely guilty and very worried about what’s going to happen next.
Can he handle watching her pregnancy develop? Steve is under the illusion at the moment that he will be able to handle it, but I’m sure when it comes to it, he is going to find it very difficult.
Will he be able to let her cope alone? Steve’s not a bad guy, he is quite a sensitive chap, so he will feel guilty about that and he will want to be there for the child. But, he has to do what he thinks is right to save his marriage because he loves Michelle past the sky, and at the moment saving his marriage is at the forefront of his mind.
How terrified is he that Michelle will find out? He’s absolutely petrified that she’s going to find out. For once everything is going great for him and Michelle, and he makes this one mistake that could jeopardise it so he’s in a bit of a quandary.
Why has he agreed to have a baby with Michelle? He’s always wanted another baby. When he was with Becky he desperately wanted her to have a baby, and when he’s been with Michelle in the past he’s wanted a baby, because he’s never had a child out of love. It’s never been planned. So to actually have one for the right reasons is what he’s after.
Why doesn’t he want to? Because obviously he knows about Leanne being pregnant, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen with that, and now he’s going from nobody wanting a baby, to having two new ones.
What advice does Tim give him? He’s given him a lot of humorous advice, sometimes it’s good advice, but then on the other hand, sometimes it’s not very good at all. Tim’s more of someone to vent spleen at, rather than take advice from.
How does he pluck up the courage to come clean to Michelle about not wanting a baby? Well Liz has been on at him about coming clean and telling Michelle because she knows how much Michelle wants a baby, and with him knowing that Leanne is pregnant as well, I think he realises that this could seriously affects things so he knows the right thing to do is to tell Michelle he doesn’t want a baby.
How does he feel when he does? Well obviously he feels like an idiot, he’s wanted a baby for so long but now because of the news with Leanne he has to say that he doesn’t want one. He loves Michelle and when he tells her he doesn’t want a baby, Michelle is devastated. And then to make things even worse, Michelle tells him that she’s already pregnant and he just feels terrible, and is really worried about how it’s going to affect his marriage.
What’s his first reaction? He thinks it would be absolutely mad to have a baby. He’s both very shocked, but also pleased as well; it’s a massive mixture of emotions for him. He wants the baby, but it’s difficult because of what’s happening with Leanne.
Can he handle this? As soon as the situation with Leanne has calmed down, and Steve is convinced that it will remain a secret and everything is going to be ok, he is very happy and pleased for him and Michelle.
What would you advise him to do? Leave the country, start again somewhere else. I’ve got three babies at home, so I don’t really want two at work, so let’s just see what happens with that. It’s going to be a cue for comedy situations, we’ve already done Steve over the edge so it is nice to play the comedy.
Where do Steve and Michelle go from here? Hopefully, they have a happily ever after, but Steve and Michelle are very much Ross and Rachel, the audience want them to be together but he always manages to mess it up. They are on and off all the time. It’s soap land, so obviously there is going to be some huge eruption at some point.