Helen Flanagan (Rosie Webster, Corrie)
Coronation Street minx Rosie Webster - played by 18-year-old Helen Flanagan - drops the bombshell of all bombshells on her boss Tony Gordon (Gray O'Brien) next week when she exposes Carla (Alison King) and Liam's (Rob James-Collier) affair. Put out when Tony turns down her offer of a night of passion, Rosie sees red and shows him the video clip of Carla and Liam kissing on her mobile phone. Helen chats to us about her saucy underwear scenes, her desire to become a Rovers barmaid and Rosie's 'disappearance'.
Rosie's disappointed when Tony takes Carla to the fashion awards instead of her, isn't she?
"Yeah, she goes into The Rovers all dolled up, showing off to the rest of the factory girls but Kevin, her dad, says 'you're not going out dressed like that'. When Tony turns up, Rosie suggests that they go for a drink somewhere a bit better than The Rovers. Tony completely shows Rosie up in front of everyone, though, when he tells her that he's taking Carla instead. She's so upset by it, it's such a big deal for her."
Rosie has no remorse about telling Kevin that she stole all of his business papers from the garage to give to Tony. Does she have a conscience?
"She told him because she was frustrated and he was being horrible. She's overcome with emotion when she blurts it out, but at the time, she never deliberately went out to hurt her family. She had her own interests at heart first, but she genuinely thought she was helping her family."
The writers are giving you some fantastic comedy/classic bitch lines, aren't they?
"Absolutely. I'm really lucky because the scriptwriters have been giving me great material. Some of the material which I'm filming at the moment is quite challenging, too, which is great for me."
After the disappointment with the fashion awards, Rosie capitalises on Tony's generosity when he takes her for a slap-up meal, doesn't she?
"Tony takes her to a hotel spa and they have a nice meal together but Rosie has another trick up her sleeve and passes a folded napkin over to him with a room key wrapped in it. When Tony goes upstairs, she's sat there waiting for him in saucy underwear!"
The hotel scenes are some of the sauciest you've ever filmed, aren't they? What was your reaction when you heard you'd be standing on national TV in skimpy underwear?
"It didn't bother me to be honest. I'm quite comfortable about my body. And with the show going out at 7.30, we have to be quite careful and make sure everything's thought through because children might be watching, so I knew it wasn't going to be too risqué."
Tony's reaction isn't quite what she's looking for is it?
"He outright rejects her. She's angry with him because she feels like he's been leading her on. I think Tony's taken it a little too far with Rosie and he should have seen Rosie as a girl with a crush. But his reaction pushes her to reveal Carla's big secret - her affair with Liam."
Why has Rosie kept the video secret for all this time?
"Rosie's a very clever girl. She does have a nasty streak to her, but she's cunning and she knew that the video footage would come into use at some point."
And the week after Tony discovers the truth about Carla and Liam, Rosie seemingly disappears off the face of the Earth, doesn't she?
"Well, let's just say she's upset a lot of people and she's not very happy, so you'll just have to wait and see what happens."
We don't know how Liam's going to die, but Rosie's the catalyst for his death. How do you feel to be inadvertently responsible for the demise of one of Corrie's most popular characters?
"I think Rosie's take on that would be that Carla was having an affair, so it's really her fault, not Rosie's. She only plays a small part in that chain of events."
It's not long until Rosie's 18 and legally be able to drink. Are you looking forward to getting more scenes in The Rovers?
"I've had quite a few scenes in The Rovers lately and that's been fantastic, but I'm definitely looking forward to more. It'd be great if Rosie had her first drink thrown over her and I'd love for Rosie to be a Corrie barmaid. I don't know if the producers will ever go down that route, but it'd be amazing if they did."
