Rob Donovan (Marc Baylis)

[alan45]

Unable to put the above in Tammys Carlas brother Thread as get an invalid link message

[tammyy2j]

I think Michelle will cheat on Steve this time around with Rob

[Perdita]

Coronation Street star Marc Baylis has confirmed that Michelle Connor is his character Rob Donovan's dream woman.

Rob will embark on a relationship with Weatherfield schemer Tracy Barlow in an upcoming storyline, but Baylis told Radio Times that the sacked factory manager really wishes he was dating Michelle (Kym Lomas).

Baylis commented: "Watch this space - interestingly, Tracy Barlow comes onto his radar. That is an interesting combination. Without a doubt, he sees something of himself in Tracy and finds her intriguing!"

Of his alter ego's womanising ways, the actor continued: "He's always having a bit of fun and a good time. He's making up for those years in prison, but ideally he would like [his girlfriend] to be Michelle. We all know how he feels."

Rob has made no secret of his interest in Michelle, but she is currently in a relationship with Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson).

Show insiders have tipped Rob's upcoming romance with Tracy (Kate Ford) to be "toxic", as one of the main reasons they get together is to unsettle Michelle and Steve's happiness.

Coronation Street continues on Friday (January 4) at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV1.

Read more: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s3...#ixzz2pKyAkdXm

[alan45]

Coronation Street businessman Rob Donovan is a man on a mission in his current storyline as he hopes to show his sister Carla Connor that she was wrong to sack him from the factory.

The Weatherfield charmer lost his job at Underworld after trying to scam Carla (Alison King), but is now plotting to steal away her clients as he attempts to become a success on his own terms.

We recently caught up with Marc Baylis, who plays Rob, to hear his thoughts on the storyline and his time on the cobbles so far.

How easy has it been to settle in at Coronation Street?
"It's been the easiest start to any job that I've ever had. The cast and crew are absolutely brilliant. Because everyone's working so hard, there needs to be an element of fun at the same time. Without that fun, it would just be a lot of hard graft! But the balance is very fine-tuned and it's been an absolute joy over the past seven months."

Are you pleased to be exploring the Rob and Carla dynamic properly now that Alison King is back on set?
"Absolutely. While Ali was away, it did give me time to establish Rob as a character without his sister there, which I think has worked out quite well.

"But the whole reason for Rob being brought into the show was to have that sibling relationship - whether it's rivalry or the two characters working together. We're building up the Connor clan, so it's been absolutely fantastic to have her back."

Is there a part of Rob that understands why Carla had to sack him?
"Definitely, he totally understands where Carla's coming from. At the end of the day, he did fiddle around with the figures in order to buy the factory at a low price.

"But the way that I was playing those scenes - and wanted it to come across - was that Rob hoped to buy the factory to help Carla in the long-run. He didn't want her to miss out and for things to change drastically at Underworld, after all of the hard work she'd put in to build it up to where it is."

Does Rob think it's unfair that Carla hasn't sacked Michelle too for keeping quiet about the scam?
"He doesn't, because he knows that he was responsible for putting Michelle in a difficult position in the first place. There's no grievances between Rob and Michelle. I don't think Rob would ever want to have bad blood with Michelle!"

Why has Rob decided to rival Carla in the business world?
"At the end of the day, Rob has got to earn a living, and this area is the background that he's got now. While Carla was away, Rob made a lot of contacts. He's setting himself up for the future, but obviously getting a bit of revenge against Carla at the same time."

How far is Rob willing to take this?
"He's just taking it as it comes, but what he ends up doing is outsourcing the work rather than setting up a brand new factory. It's contractual work more than anything else that he's operating on at the moment."

Is Carla worried when Rob starts to become successful in winning clients?
"Rob certainly hopes so! That's his whole objective - he wants to make Carla realise that her business has been doing well because of him managing all of these clients and building up new relationships too.

"It's a case of making Carla realise what she's missing by sacking Rob, so that's the ultimate goal. In the end, Carla does offer Rob his job back. But I think Rob's already proved enough of a point to realise that offering his job back isn't quite enough…"


Can these two siblings ever find a way to work together?
"Oh, definitely, as they do love each other deep down. They're brother and sister and there's not many of the family left. If there was a situation aside from work where Carla needed Rob, he would be there in a split second for her.

"There is a rivalry there, but I think they want to look out for each other in the long-run."

Do you see Rob as a nice guy yourself?
"Whenever I'm playing Rob, I have to like him. What I try to do - even if I personally disagree with whatever he's doing - is try to understand the reasons why he's acting the way he is.

"As I mentioned earlier, with the fraud storyline, in my head Rob genuinely wanted to help Carla in the long-run. I think there's a moral grounding there."

When it comes to Rob's love life, could he ever be a one-woman man?
"I don't know in all honesty, because he's never been in that situation! He's been in prison for eight years, and he's only been out for a few months now. If it was the right relationship, then I would say yes. But if it's not the right relationship, then who knows?"

Michelle seems to be the one woman that Rob likes more than any other…
"Yeah, without a doubt. There's always been that connection between them since childhood, so there's a lot of history there. That history hasn't been seen on screen because Rob's been inside, but hopefully that will materialise in the future."

As Rob and Tracy are expected to have a relationship soon, what kind of a dynamic can we expect between those two?
"There's a lot of joyful banter - they challenge each other in a fun way. They're quite similar, they can see those similarities and they do have a lot of fun together. They put a smile on each other's faces, and we'll just have to see how it goes from there."

Tracy can be quite a dangerous character sometimes. Can Rob hold his own with her?
"Definitely, otherwise he wouldn't get involved. He is aware of the whole situation that happened with Ryan last year, but he's got a few more years on Ryan and he's been round the block a few times.

"Rob definitely wouldn't get involved in something that he didn't think he could handle. But Rob does have an arrogant side, and he feels like he could deal with anything. That's one of Rob's main flaws!

"I've really enjoyed working with Kate Ford on the storyline - we've had an absolute blast. We've been working a lot together, and hopefully the working relationship that we've built up behind the scenes will come across on screen. I'm looking forward to seeing that unfold myself."

Will Rob and Tracy cause trouble for some of the other characters?
"Definitely, but I won't go too much into that one!"

With the NTAs coming up, why should we be voting for all things Corrie?
"Well, I think the work speaks for itself. There's obviously been a lot of tension with all of the storylines involved, especially when it comes to Natalie [Gumede] and Alan [Halsall] and their abuse storyline. They've both done an incredible job with it and they're both up for prizes.

"There's been a lot of focus on the surrogacy storyline too, and that's why Michelle Keegan's been nominated - she's doing a fantastic job with that as well. I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be getting the votes that those storylines deserve, and hopefully we'll win the big one - the 'Best Serial Drama' prize - as well!"

[alan45]

Coronation Street businessman Rob Donovan is a man on a mission in his current storyline as he hopes to show his sister Carla Connor that she was wrong to sack him from the factory.

The Weatherfield charmer lost his job at Underworld after trying to scam Carla (Alison King), but is now plotting to steal away her clients as he attempts to become a success on his own terms.

We recently caught up with Marc Baylis, who plays Rob, to hear his thoughts on the storyline and his time on the cobbles so far.

How easy has it been to settle in at Coronation Street?
"It's been the easiest start to any job that I've ever had. The cast and crew are absolutely brilliant. Because everyone's working so hard, there needs to be an element of fun at the same time. Without that fun, it would just be a lot of hard graft! But the balance is very fine-tuned and it's been an absolute joy over the past seven months."

Are you pleased to be exploring the Rob and Carla dynamic properly now that Alison King is back on set?
"Absolutely. While Ali was away, it did give me time to establish Rob as a character without his sister there, which I think has worked out quite well.

"But the whole reason for Rob being brought into the show was to have that sibling relationship - whether it's rivalry or the two characters working together. We're building up the Connor clan, so it's been absolutely fantastic to have her back."

Is there a part of Rob that understands why Carla had to sack him?
"Definitely, he totally understands where Carla's coming from. At the end of the day, he did fiddle around with the figures in order to buy the factory at a low price.

"But the way that I was playing those scenes - and wanted it to come across - was that Rob hoped to buy the factory to help Carla in the long-run. He didn't want her to miss out and for things to change drastically at Underworld, after all of the hard work she'd put in to build it up to where it is."

Does Rob think it's unfair that Carla hasn't sacked Michelle too for keeping quiet about the scam?
"He doesn't, because he knows that he was responsible for putting Michelle in a difficult position in the first place. There's no grievances between Rob and Michelle. I don't think Rob would ever want to have bad blood with Michelle!"

Why has Rob decided to rival Carla in the business world?
"At the end of the day, Rob has got to earn a living, and this area is the background that he's got now. While Carla was away, Rob made a lot of contacts. He's setting himself up for the future, but obviously getting a bit of revenge against Carla at the same time."

How far is Rob willing to take this?
"He's just taking it as it comes, but what he ends up doing is outsourcing the work rather than setting up a brand new factory. It's contractual work more than anything else that he's operating on at the moment."

Is Carla worried when Rob starts to become successful in winning clients?
"Rob certainly hopes so! That's his whole objective - he wants to make Carla realise that her business has been doing well because of him managing all of these clients and building up new relationships too.

"It's a case of making Carla realise what she's missing by sacking Rob, so that's the ultimate goal. In the end, Carla does offer Rob his job back. But I think Rob's already proved enough of a point to realise that offering his job back isn't quite enough…"


Can these two siblings ever find a way to work together?
"Oh, definitely, as they do love each other deep down. They're brother and sister and there's not many of the family left. If there was a situation aside from work where Carla needed Rob, he would be there in a split second for her.

"There is a rivalry there, but I think they want to look out for each other in the long-run."

Do you see Rob as a nice guy yourself?
"Whenever I'm playing Rob, I have to like him. What I try to do - even if I personally disagree with whatever he's doing - is try to understand the reasons why he's acting the way he is.

"As I mentioned earlier, with the fraud storyline, in my head Rob genuinely wanted to help Carla in the long-run. I think there's a moral grounding there."

When it comes to Rob's love life, could he ever be a one-woman man?
"I don't know in all honesty, because he's never been in that situation! He's been in prison for eight years, and he's only been out for a few months now. If it was the right relationship, then I would say yes. But if it's not the right relationship, then who knows?"

Michelle seems to be the one woman that Rob likes more than any other…
"Yeah, without a doubt. There's always been that connection between them since childhood, so there's a lot of history there. That history hasn't been seen on screen because Rob's been inside, but hopefully that will materialise in the future."

As Rob and Tracy are expected to have a relationship soon, what kind of a dynamic can we expect between those two?
"There's a lot of joyful banter - they challenge each other in a fun way. They're quite similar, they can see those similarities and they do have a lot of fun together. They put a smile on each other's faces, and we'll just have to see how it goes from there."

Tracy can be quite a dangerous character sometimes. Can Rob hold his own with her?
"Definitely, otherwise he wouldn't get involved. He is aware of the whole situation that happened with Ryan last year, but he's got a few more years on Ryan and he's been round the block a few times.

"Rob definitely wouldn't get involved in something that he didn't think he could handle. But Rob does have an arrogant side, and he feels like he could deal with anything. That's one of Rob's main flaws!

"I've really enjoyed working with Kate Ford on the storyline - we've had an absolute blast. We've been working a lot together, and hopefully the working relationship that we've built up behind the scenes will come across on screen. I'm looking forward to seeing that unfold myself."

Will Rob and Tracy cause trouble for some of the other characters?
"Definitely, but I won't go too much into that one!"

With the NTAs coming up, why should we be voting for all things Corrie?
"Well, I think the work speaks for itself. There's obviously been a lot of tension with all of the storylines involved, especially when it comes to Natalie [Gumede] and Alan [Halsall] and their abuse storyline. They've both done an incredible job with it and they're both up for prizes.

"There's been a lot of focus on the surrogacy storyline too, and that's why Michelle Keegan's been nominated - she's doing a fantastic job with that as well. I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be getting the votes that those storylines deserve, and hopefully we'll win the big one - the 'Best Serial Drama' prize - as well!"

[alan45]

Coronation Street star Marc Baylis has revealed that Rob Donovan's feud with Peter Barlow will develop into a big storyline this summer.

Rob and Peter (Chris Gascoyne) have recently found themselves at odds, and their rivalry has intensified this week as Carla Connor has forced her brother and partner to work together at the betting shop.

Speaking on ITV's This Morning today (May 1), Baylis explained that the recent sniping between the two men is just a taster of bigger material to come.

Baylis commented: "You'll see over the summer, this is just the beginning of it more than anything else."

Asked whether Rob will be showing a dark side, the actor replied: "Without a doubt! This is the whole precipice that's being set up at the moment. It does erupt in the bookies. It's really nice at the moment with Rob being in there. The reason why he's there is because of Carla. We're working closely-knit as siblings for the first time in a while, which has been really nice.

"But it is that rivalry and the fact that Rob doesn't think Peter is good enough for Carla. That's what's underneath it all, and it gets a bit dirty."

He continued: "They're trying to get the right pecking order. Rob's with Tracy now and she's coercing him and whispering in his ear.

"This is basically what's going to be happening all over the summer. The rivalry takes hold more than anything else. Basically Rob and Tracy want to be Peter and Carla. They want to be successful. It's the ambition and the drive that creates that pride that makes the arguments happen - and Rob, I think stupidly, tries to stitch his sister up."

[alan45]

Coronation Street star Marc Baylis has admitted that he felt under pressure when he took on the role of Rob Donovan.

The actor landed the part of Carla Connor's brother a year ago, but the character had often been mentioned in previous scripts.


Speaking on ITV's This Morning today (May 1), Baylis commented: "There was a lot of pressure with actually starting the character of Rob, because so many people have got strong ideas of what he's going to be like. But the actual first day of being on set and everything, it literally was, 'Welcome, bang, here we go'.

"I'm still learning on a daily basis. You never know what's going to happen, you never know what's going to come up. I'm still learning lots about the job - it's very different from what I've done before."

Baylis said that it was important for Rob to "hit the ground running" in storylines.

He explained: "I think the reason for that is because Rob's been talked about for so long, being Carla's brother and all that jazz. I think there was a lot of anticipation about him.

"If he didn't come in and kick off straight away, it wouldn't have fed the want for the character, and the drive that obviously the writers have got for him.

[lizann]

i don't mind rob as he is hot

[Dazzle]

i don't mind rob as he is hot

I can't stand the smarmy plank of wood

[lizann]

I can't stand the smarmy plank of wood

that wood could light my fire any day