Diana Bailey (Dee Dee)

When Coronation Street's newest family arrive on the cobbles later this year, there will be one sibling viewers won't actually get to meet right away.

The ITV soap is introducing Edison (Trevor Michael Georges) and Aggie Bailey (Lorna Laidlaw) along with their sons Michael (Ryan Russell) and James (Nathan Graham) when they buy No. 3 from Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden).

There's also a Bailey sister named Diana – but Coronation Street producer Iain MacLeod revealed to Digital Spy and other media on Friday (April 5) that her arrival will be saved for later in the year.

"They've got a sister as well – in age terms she is half-way between James (19) and Michael (27)," MacLeod said. "We don't meet her quite yet – she's called Diana or Dee Dee.

"Her birth will have roughly coincided with the death of Princess Diana so she's called Diane or Dee Dee or Princess by the brothers because she's whatever the female equivalent of a Golden Balls is. Aggie will come off the phone and say she can't make it for Easter because she has a conference in Chicago. She's over there somewhere."

The producer went on: "We've not cast her yet — she will be an off-screen presence a bit like Brenda from Streetcars – and will be a source of comedy friction around the dinner table.

"It'll be like, 'Awww on WhatsApp, your sister has just sent a picture of her new convertible!' So, hopefully there'll be some anticipation of the kind of character she is before she arrives."

Good luck shipping that convertible from Chicago to Weatherfield, Diana!

Digital Spy

where does she fit in the family, youngest, middle?

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Originally Posted by lizann

where does she fit in the family, youngest, middle?

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Middle :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lizann

where does she fit in the family, youngest, middle?

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"They've got a sister as well – in age terms she is half-way between James (19) and Michael (27)," MacLeod said. "We don't meet her quite yet – she's called Diana or Dee Dee.

Channique Sterling-Brown has been cast as Dee Dee.

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/cor...ailey-arrives/

Coronation Street has announced plans to bring in the missing member of the Bailey family.

Ed and Aggie's daughter Dee Dee Bailey is joining Weatherfield and will make her first appearance on the ITV soap later this month.

Channique Sterling-Brown has been cast in the role of Dee Dee, who has often been mentioned on screen since Ed, Aggie and their sons Michael and James arrived in 2019.

Speaking to Digital Spy and other media, producer Iain MacLeod explained: "I love this character. I loved her long before she physically existed, just by the way she was described in the Bailey family.

"But essentially, you can expect a certain amount of chaos. She's got an incredibly big heart. She's incredibly competent at her job, but you'd never guess that to meet her.

"Dee Dee works in law and she's the sort of person that will issue a point-on-point take down of a team of hotshot lawyers to defend her client, but will then turn to leave the courtroom and you'll realise that she's done the whole thing with her skirt tucked into her knickers.

"She's just amped up chaos in every regard, apart from she?s got this incredibly sharp mind. But she's loads of fun."

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On casting Channique in the role, MacLeod continued: "I wasn't that familiar with her before, but she's absolutely fantastic. She's just a complete shot in the arm. She's so full of energy and vibrance and she's just great. So I'm really, really excited to see her crash land into that family.

"There's loads of fun stuff to play with her being the apple of her mum's eye, and you've got sibling rivalry with the boys. She's also not that au fait with children, so she's got a very comedic relationship with her niece Glory, because she doesn't really know what to do with kids and treats them a bit like they're one of her clients or that maybe they're on trial.

"So she's got a really big heart, but it's slightly clumsy in her social relationships. She's also a pathological people pleaser. She can't say no. If people come up and ask for a favour, she'll end up saying yes to all of it. Even if that means it's hugely to the detriment of her own sanity.

"So she's just this lovely big-hearted injection of energy in the middle of that family. There are very exciting times for that family."

MacLeod promised that Dee Dee will be involved in a major storyline, but not necessarily one involving a shock secret from her past.

He admitted: "Whenever you introduce a new character, it's the default setting to go, 'And what is her dark secret that she's concealing when she arrives?' Ordinarily that serves you very well.

"Actually, with this character we thought, 'Well, I don't know if I want her to have one'. She's so exuberant and just seems so bulletproof and impervious to the travails of modern life that she dusts herself down and gets on with it. I didn't want to discover that she's got some terrible burden.

"Actually, it was really refreshing when we all came to that decision, which was, 'Let's not do that'. Instead it's, 'Oh yeah. She can just be incredibly joyous'.

"I think the world needs a bit of that at the moment, rather than somebody pretending to be joyous, but really they're terribly sad because their dog died recently or something darker. She's just this big bundle of fun, I have to say. And I strongly anticipate the audience will really take to her."

i suppose new partner for adam in the law firm practice

Coronation Street introduces a new member of the Bailey family next week as Ed and Aggie's daughter Dee-Dee arrives in Weatherfield.

Dee-Dee has often been mentioned since the Bailey family moved onto the Street in 2019, but now we'll finally see how she interacts with her loved ones as she moves home from America.

The new character works as a lawyer and will be seen helping her brother James after Weatherfield County drop him from the team. She will also play a role in the ongoing Stu Carpenter storyline.

Digital Spy recently caught up with Channique Sterling-Brown, who plays Dee-Dee, for some early gossip on what's in store.

How does it feel to have joined the Corrie cast?

"It's still a bit surreal, if I'm completely honest. I've had a brilliant time so far. Everyone is just so kind and so lovely and has just completely embraced me, especially the whole Bailey family. So it's been brilliant. It's just crazy and I keep smiling."

Dee-Dee has been mentioned quite a bit over the past few years. Did you have an awareness of the character before you joined?

"When the Baileys joined, being the first Black family in Corrie, it was big news everywhere, wasn't it? So even though I wasn't an avid watcher at the time, I was like, 'Okay, what's this? Interesting!' They'd been speaking about the daughter, but I obviously didn't make any links at the time."

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

"I am from a little town in West Yorkshire. I grew up half up here, and half down south in Hertfordshire. I moved to Manchester after I graduated and I've been here for about four years now.

"I was meant to do my first big job at the start of 2020, but then obviously the pandemic happened. So this last 18 months has been getting back into it, really. You graduate and find your feet and then you get hit by a pandemic! But it was a good chance to get more creative."

How long ago did you audition for the role of Dee-Dee?

"My first self-tape was at the start of April, so it's been quite a long process. I remember getting the brief through and laughing to my friends, saying: 'This character is literally like me'.

"I was really fortunate to go to the first screen test, which was with Lorna Laidlaw, who plays Aggie. She was just so brilliant ? so warm and she made me so comfortable straight away. I was in Roy's Rolls and it was just me and Lorna and it was just perfect, to be honest.

"The final screen test was with all the Baileys and by that point we were down to the last three of us, so it was high stakes. But again, everyone was super lovely."

What happened next?

"In all the chaos of it, I'd been given a prop phone in the screen test scene. I did the scene and put it in my pocket. We cut after a few takes and then I left. I don't know what even made me realise, because I wasn't even home yet. But I just stopped and I was like, 'I've got the phone in my pocket!'

"I was like, 'I've just stolen. I've stolen from Corrie'. Literally, I called my agent and I'm like, 'What do I do?' They were like 'Take it back, it's fine!'

"So I drove back with it. I pulled up outside reception and ran in. As I was coming out, I bumped into Ryan Russell, who plays Michael, and told him that I'd taken the phone!

"We had a lovely chat and he was super encouraging, which made me feel so good, even if I hadn't got the job. It made me feel as an actor that I'd done a good job. This was such a blessing for me because I left on a high."

How did you find out that you'd got the part?

"I was on a bus when I found out. My agent called and told me about it, and I'm not going to lie, I burst into tears. I was so overcome.

"The first person I told was my best friend. I FaceTimed her and she could see me crying. I think the signal wasn't very good because she started saying, 'What's happened? What's wrong? I can't hear you, you're breaking up'. So, we had to go back and forth ? and then eventually she got the message!"

How did your family react?

"I hadn't told my mum, through this whole process, that I was doing this because she gets very excited. After I found out and FaceTimed her, I said, 'So I've got to tell you, you're looking at the new regular on Corrie'.

"She screamed and started dancing and then she said, 'Are you sure it's Corrie and not a spin-off?' I'm like, 'Cheers mum! I've only had three years of training and ?40,000 worth of debt!'

"I'm like, 'No, it's definitely the real cobbles, mum'. And she's been absolutely elated ever since ? she's absolutely itching to tell the world."

How would you describe Dee-Dee?

"Organised chaos is how I describe her. She walks into any room, she bursts in and she's got a big personality, but she's also really hard working. She's a great lawyer and she knows what she's doing.

"I relate to her because I think I'm quite similar, in that I'm really friendly and really chatty. But when I'm in the zone when I'm working hard, I'm there.

"Even the fact that Dee-Dee is a lawyer ? I was originally not going to do drama school and I was going to train in law. I got a place at a law school, but at the last minute I pulled out and decided to pursue drama school.

"Even everything about the way Dee-Dee was described and the way she dresses, that she changes her hair all the time, it's just so similar to myself."

What was it like meeting the Bailey family?

"They have just completely embraced me. Before we even shot anything, I came in for hair and a wardrobe test and they were all rallying around me.

"The boys came down and they were watching me in the make-up chair and then took me down to wardrobe. They were checking out the clothes, saying, 'I like that, I like that'.

"Lorna turned up and she bought me lunch because I was in a wardrobe fitting for hours and Trev [Michael Georges, who plays Ed] was there too. They've been so kind and so good to me, like a second family straight away."

What else can we expect from Dee-Dee?

"Dee-Dee is going to bring a lot of fun and a lot of chaos ? but in a good way, hopefully. She makes a friend in Alya, which has been really great. They're delving into Stu's case and looking to see if Dee-Dee can get him exonerated.

"I think that's going to be really exciting for viewers, because obviously, it's such a big storyline and it's very gripping. Two young women are on a detective case. I think it's really brilliant and it's exciting to see where that'll go."

im liking her, loud brass obnoxious and fast, a lady for zeedan or alya?

is she after nick?

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/cor...romance-story/

Coronation Street star Channique Sterling-Brown has revealed a dating storyline for her character Dee-Dee Bailey.

Dee-Dee has often put her career commitments first since joining Weatherfield last year, but upcoming episodes will see her start searching for a new man.

Channique shared the first details of the storyline while chatting at an Inside Soap magazine photoshoot to celebrate Corrie's nominations at the Inside Soap Awards 2023.

Digital Spy was granted exclusive video access to the shoot and spoke to each of the cast involved.

Channique told Digital Spy: "I think we're going to see Dee-Dee in a new light. We're going to see her go on a bit of a dating journey.

"Her life is a mixture of fun but chaos, and I think fans will really enjoy seeing her try to navigate that world.

"When she's in the courtroom, she's totally in control. I think it's going to be really fun to see her struggle to quite work things out, so that's what we've got coming up."

Dee-Dee previously had a brief romantic spark with Damon Hay, but has stayed single since it didn't work out.

Discussing this approach to Dee-Dee's character, Channique continued: "What's great about her is she doesn't need a man. She's very independent and hard-working, but almost to a fault sometimes.

"She's probably missed all sorts of romantic opportunities because she's had her head either in the clouds or in the courtroom!

"I think it's going to be really exciting to see her work all of that out, have a bit of fun and put herself first."

Channique also shared her thoughts on why soap fans should be backing Corrie at the Inside Soap Awards ahead of the star-studded ceremony next month.

She said: "I think they should be voting for Coronation Street because consistently we just bring such brilliant storylines, but also it just has such a special place in people's hearts and homes.

"I really feel that our fanbase is a great reflection of that, because people love the show so much. They're so invested in the show and the characters.

"There's been some brilliant, amazing topics brought up this year, as well as still bringing the comedy relief, the fun and the family element. Best soap on telly!"

could she bring a case against the hospital

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Originally Posted by lizann

could she bring a case against the hospital

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She's a solicitor, she should know.