Samia Longchambon has grown up in front of viewers' eyes as Maria Windass - nee Sutherland and formerly Connor - in Coronation Street. And if her children have their way, they could end up doing the same thing.
The Eccles-born actress has been reflecting on her career ahead of turning 40 on Wednesday, July 13. She joined the ITV soap 22 years ago when the character was a kennelmaid at the family-run Sutherland's Kennels before she agreed to marry Tyrone Dobbs when he proposed atop Blackpool Tower.
She recently enjoyed a day at work with her two children, 12-year-old Freya from her first marriage to Matt Smith, and six-year-old Yves who she shared with her former Dancing On Ice star husband Sylvain Longchambon.
Sharing a snap from outside the Rovers Return on Instagram of them together alongside roaming pet pooch, Ralf, Samia wrote: " Friends and family day at work.. so lovely to be able to show my kids and friends around the cobbles today, Ralf came along too and bagged himself 1st prize at the dog show!"
Now, speaking to The Sun's TV mag ahead of her milestone birthday, Samia has opened up about her kids possibly following in her footsteps and becoming soap stars. "The kids love it," she said. "They came away saying they want to work on Corrie when they grow up!
"Freya’s 12 and Yves is six. They’re both pretty self-sufficient, especially Freya now, she’s out with her friends and stuff. It goes so fast! I was chatting to her this morning actually about when she was born and when she was a baby - it goes so fast but at the same time it feels like a lifetime ago."
She added of her eldest: "Freya loves acting, she goes to a drama class every Saturday and she really enjoys it but I would never push her into it. If she ever stops enjoying it, I won’t have any issues about her giving it up. It’s such a difficult industry to be in."
As Maria goes through a horrifying trolling ordeal on-screen, Samia recently spoke about her fears of the online world when it comes to her young children.
After speaking of her own experience of negativity online, Samia added to the Manchester Evening News and other press: "It knocks your confidence. Even if you have 99 nice comments, you only remember that one awful comment and think 'that's what I must look lke' or 'that's what I must be like' or 'that's how bad I must be at my job'... whatever they are commenting on, that's what you remember as much as you don't want to.
"And what I've come to realise is those people would never say it to your face in public. They hide behind a keyboard and think that's ok and it's not. I think it should be regulated online, especially for young people now going on social media. I look at my daughter, she's 12 and uses so media, and I get really nervous about her using it because you're such an easy target on social media."
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