A K-I-S-S with Michelle Keegan, to be precise – his gorgeous co-star in hit comedy drama, Brassic.
The pair finally get to lock lips in the upcoming fourth series of the Sky show.
And actor Joe, 38, who created the series, has quite a bit to say on the matter.
In an exclusive chat with the Sunday People, he says: “Is she a good kisser? I’m not telling… Let’s just put it this way, it is one of those moments where once you get on your own, you punch the air with your fist and feel like you might have taken over the world somehow.
“It’s only brief, then you remember that you’re just pathetic again. But for a split second, I felt like a king!”
Joe and Michelle’s Brassic alter egos – Vinnie and Erin – have kept fans guessing about whether they will take their friendship to the next level.
But Joe says when it came to the kiss, he was out of practise because the pandemic had put paid to any real-life romance.
Nervous
He explains: “I was nervous because Michelle’s a f***ing goddess, a married goddess, and I’m a scrawny little f***er who’s never going to come out the other end of that well, let’s be honest.
“Everything’s downhill from that point on… really, it is! I’d been on my own a long time, I hadn’t kissed anyone for ages because of the pandemic. I was just hoping I hadn’t forgotten what to do!
“Jesus Christ, so I’ve not had a snog for two years and the first one I have is with this beautiful b***er on the telly?
“I was a bit all consumed purely by that, like I’m going to have to snog someone and I haven’t had a good snog in years!
“I think this kiss has been a long time coming and we really agonised over when to do it. It was a real, ‘Do we? Don’t we?’ because it’s been a, ‘Will they? Won’t they?’ from the start and it’s kind of fun, isn’t it?
“Having that tension… we just went with it and I think it was good. It was a really great little smooch as well.”
Michelle, 35 – who, like Joe, found fame in Coronation Street – is married to TV personality Mark Wright, also 35.
After Corrie, she starred in Army drama Our Girl, then linked up with Joe for Brassic in 2019.
It quickly became one of Sky’s top comedy shows, with Joe’s performance earning him a BAFTA nomination last year.
The series follows Vinnie and
his pals as they scam, scheme and steal whatever they need to survive.
In the new series, Erin gets dressed up for a murder mystery night – all to help steal some expensive wine from a manor house.
Many of the scams featured in the show, such as stealing prize bulls and setting up cannabis farms, mimic real events that happened when Joe was a young tearaway growing up in Chorley, Lancs.
Even Vinnie’s battle with bipolar disorder mirrors the mental health struggles Joe faces on a daily basis.
The TV gang get up to such mischief that fans are often left wondering how fine the line really is between fact and fiction.
“I remember a lot of my own b******t, to be honest,” laughs Joe.
“I was never a big time criminal, I was never a violent guy.
“I was involved in a network of people that were just trying their luck, really. For example, I went for a walk with a lad, and he said, ‘Let’s go over here. I can hear chainsaws’.
“There were a lot of blokes up a tree, cutting it back, so we stole a f***ing massive chainsaw right in front of them. They couldn’t get down the tree in time to stop us.
“My mate was, like, ‘I’m having this’. I still feel awful about that so I was never a brilliant criminal.”
Is Joe ever tempted to catch up with his pals to reminisce about the old days to generate more material?
“To be honest, the nature of the friendships I had, a lot of them are in the nick,” says Joe. “Or they’re dead because of violence or drug overdoses and things like that. That’s the nature of that life – it can be painful and bloody short-lived. It’s traumatising being in that amount of poverty.”
Joe’s career has seen him play young Jamie Armstrong in Corrie, Eli Dingle in Emmerdale, a skinhead alongside Vicky McClure in the This Is England franchise and star in US supernatural show Preacher.
But Brassic sees him return him to his home turf and the show doesn’t shy away from the realities facing hard-up Brits.
This series sees Vinnie battle with his mental health because he can’t afford the prescription for his medication.
From the outset, Joe has been determined to shine a light on lives which are not often portrayed on TV. That also means he refuses to tone down how much his characters swear. “Because it’s real,” he says firmly. “I guess it’s a show loosely based on me and if we’re going to be honest, I’m a foul-mouthed c**t.
“I don’t give a s**t what anyone thinks about my potty language. If you’re offended, f**k off somewhere else, you snowflake. I won’t pander to it. Own
your feelings.”
There might be a lot of foul language in the show, but there’s a lot of love too. And Joe is happy to reveal that by the end of the series, Vinnie and Erin will be seen in bed together in a woodland shack. But is all as it seems?
“Is there rumpy pumpy, or is it just a freezing shed and they want the warmth? You’ll have to wait and see!” Joe laughs.
- Brassic, Sky Max, September 7
