Coronation Street star Sally Carman-Duttine has sent a three-word message to her new co-star after fans claim to have spotted her character's 'clone' on the cobbles. The actress plays Abi Webster in the ITV soap and was among those welcoming Claire Sweeney to the cast.
Former Brookside actress and West End star Claire has joined the long-running show as Cassandra (Cassie) Plummer. Her casting was revealed back in April and she made her first appearance on screen during Wednesday night's trip to the cobbles (June 28) as Tyrone Dobbs' real mum and the daughter of Evelyn Plummer.
Cassie tracked down her mum to the street but when Evelyn spotted her, she ignored her. But later, Evelyn received a call and was seen hurrying into A&E reception, explaining that her daughter has been admitted as an emergency after she overdosed.
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The pair then entered into an emotional confrontation as Cassie revealed she knows that she was living with Tyrone and has been keeping him from her for all these years. And things reached a heartbreaking climax when Evelyn emotionally confessed that Tyrone thinks his mum is dead.
Ahead of her first scenes hitting the small screen, Claire took to Instagram with images of herself looking unrecognisable as her drug addict character. "Excited and nervous to make my first appearance in @coronationstreet tonight with Dame Maureen Lipman and @alanhalsall (thanks for making me so welcome you are both amazing!)," she started the caption of her post.
"It’s brilliantly written by @ijkershaw and directed by the excellent @abe.juckes. Thankyou to all the crew, hair, makeup and costume and production team on Corrie. Everyone in the press office And Finally to Ian and Verity for trusting me to play Cassie Plumber. Thanks to my manger @melanieblakeuk and @leonlopez and Amanda at Urban and sharonjmarshall for your support!"
Before and following the episode, viewers and fans were rushing to the comments to praise Claire, as were some of her celebrity pals including Vanessa Feltz who said: "Cannot wait for your debut! You were born for Corrie."
And Sally, who has appeared as Abi in Corrie since 2017 after being known for starring as Kelly Maguire in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series Shameless, was also keen to respond as she wrote in the comment section: "Watch out Weatherfield!" and suggesting they will have scenes together, Claire replied: "Loved today."
Meanwhile, fans of the soap were flocking to social media after seeing Claire on-screen as Cassie to say how she reminded them of Abi, who has also battled drug addiction before and during her time in Weatherfield.
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@CaroleBlain tweeted: "This new character, Cassandra, looks a lot like Abi. #Corrie #coronationstreet." @Ockeghem1497 asked: "Why's Abi in a hospital bed with a Scouse accent? #Corrie." @BarryVine2 noted: "Cassie is Abi with a Scouse accent. #Corrie." @Pongo81575019 shared: "Evelyns daughter looks the spit of Abi #corrie."
@jamiecleverly joked: "I didn't know Abi was Evelyn's Daughter. #Corrie." @BarryVine2 posted: "Cassie another variation of Abi? Abi 2.0? @TwellyWatcher typed: "Cassie weirdly looked a lot like Abi there on that side profile camera shot. Probably just the blonde hair then #Corrie." @LunaLocoJewels added: "The street barely needs abi anymore let alone an abi clone #Corrie."
