An Interview with Samia Longchambon

After more than two decades on the cobbles, Coronation Street favourite Samia Longchambon is stepping into a new spotlight — and it’s not on the famous Weatherfield set. Best known as Maria Connor, the actress is taking to the stage for An Audience with Coronation Street, a live theatre experience that promises behind-the-scenes secrets, cast camaraderie and plenty of nostalgia.

Ahead of her appearances in Salford and Sheffield, Samia sat down to reflect on life in Britain’s most iconic soap, how it feels to return to the stage after a long hiatus, and the storylines that have shaped her 25-year journey on Corrie.

Are you excited about taking part in An Audience with Coronation Street?
Really excited, yeah! I’m surprised that we’ve never done anything like this before so it’s an honour to be involved in it.

So who approached you about taking part?
I got an email from my agent which was exciting – I think it’ll be so much fun and actually a good trip down memory lane for us all to relive some of the nostalgic moments over the years.

Have you had much experience on the stage?
No, the last time I was on the stage, I was at drama school and I was probably 15. So it’s a long, long time. I’ll probably be nervous on the night for sure but we do Corrie Star Tours now where we do meet and greets with all the Corrie fans at the weekends, so I guess it’ll be a little bit like that but on a much bigger scale! I’m doing one on Sunday actually and it’s really nice because everyone who comes onto the Corrie tours, they get to go all around the set and then there’s an option where they meet a surprise cast member. They don’t know they’re going to get on the day. But on those things, you meet about 300 Corrie fans and that’s always really nice.

“Favourite storylines”

Have you started to think about what kind of stories you could talk about from your time on the show?
Well, I spoke to Sharon Marshall (who is hosting) the other week, and we had a big chat for an hour about all sort of funny anecdotes that have happened over the years and what my favourite storylines have been and what have been the most tough storylines to film, things like that.

You’re going to be doing a couple of shows, Salford and Sheffield City Hall. So given your busy filming schedule, is it quite easy for you dedicate the time to do in this?
Scheduling’s really complex at Corrie but the team are being super helpful in making sure we can factor being at the Tour as much as possible. Might mean I get a bit of filming and then off to the theatre but we’ll see…

Have you ever spent any time in Sheffield?
I was there a couple of months ago actually because my husband’s been on the Torvill & Dean tour and they were in Sheffield so we went to Sheffield to watch him. But it’s always a nice warm, welcoming place, Sheffield. So hopefully.

Will you and cast go out for the night after the Sheffield show?
We never party on Corrie, the Corrie cast are very good! All right, that’s a lie. Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe…..

Do you think you’re going to have any family and friends turn up or ask you for tickets to come along?
I’ve not even thought about that! I’m sure nearer the time there’ll be people asking, but personally, my family and friends know everything about me anyway so they’re probably not very interested in sitting watching me – we’re on for like two hours!

“Still an honour”

How did it feel when you first found out that you got the role?
I was at home in in the house, it was surreal. At the time it was just a thought “a three month contract with a three month option!”, to me I was just buzzing thinking “I’ve got a job for potentially 6 months, but definitely three months. That’s amazing”; obviously not thinking for one second, I’d still be there 25 years later. But it is still an honour to be part of the show after so long and the fact that the writers are still managing to come up with great storylines from my character, I’m very grateful for it. It’s always fun to play them and then to see where the drama takes to next. There’s always drama around the corner!

Are there anybody else’s storylines that you wish you had?
I actually think a great character is Carla, so I feel like it would be quite nice to be the factory boss and boss everyone about that. That would be fun because Maria is quite bossy with David in the salon, but I feel like she’s got more bossiness in her. She could boss a whole factory.

Is there a past character you would have loved to the chance to work with?
You know what person that popped into my mind is Sarah Lancashire – Raquel. That would have been amazing to be in the show at the same time as her as Raquel, that would have been really cool.

‘An Audience with Coronation Street’ is at Sheffield City Hall on 19th September
For ticket info visit here
All images: ITV Studios Coronation Street