Coronation Street star reveals ‘terribly sad’ ordeal Christina endured as a young girl

‘She’s spent most of her life regretting it’. Actress Amy Robbins reveals all. (Picture: ITV)

Even for someone who works at Coronation Street‘s most prestigious undertakers, Christina Boyd has her fair share of skeleton in her closest. Actress Amy Robbins lifts the lid on the largest one of all…

‘Terribly sad.’ Amy teases, speaking about the latest jaw-dropping twist in her character’s story. ‘Very, very sad. She’s spent most of her life regretting it, and burying it, and not talking about it, pretending it didn’t happen.’

Amy is speaking of course, about the upcoming revelation set to rock the Cobbles that her character Christina has a shock connection to the victim of a gruesome murder.

That’s right, another one.

Not content with being a major suspect in the murder of domestic abuser Theo Silverton (James Cartwright), now the mischievous Weatherfield resident finds herself tragically embroiled in the murder that is currently looming large over the Metcalfe household.

Tim Metcalfe’s (Joe Duttine) cousin Richie (Nathan Sussex) seemingly killed his wife Rachel in self defence, meaning that Tim and Sally (Sally Dynevor) had to take in their severely traumatised daughter Lucy (Anya Dewin).

Everything changed in tonight’s episode where Christina was reviewing the arrangements for Rachel’s funeral, only to learn that Lucy is the deceased’s daughter. Horrified, Christina quickly hurried out.

Christina made a shocking discovery in tonight’s episode (Picture: ITV)

Why? Because Rachel was Christina’s daughter.

Amy Robbins describes her initial reaction after first learning about this new bombshell set to drop on her character.

‘I hadn’t seen Anya (Lucy) in the building. I knew that something like this was happening. The producer called me in and said, I’ve got this great story for you, and it’s going to explain why Christina is the person that she is.’

‘A few people said to me, ‘there’s an actress and she really looks like you, Amy. Who is this girl?’ And I remember when I met Anya for the first time, it was so sweet, because she looks like my daughters. It’s a good bit of casting, I think. 

‘So that’s how I found out. I found out from Kate Brooks, but I didn’t know the extent, and now we’re playing it out now.’

Corrie have already met one of Christina’s daughters, the infamous Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan).

It’s safe to say their relationship was complicated, to say the least. By which I mean Chrissie was never going to win mother of the year. She attended Daisy’s wedding to Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard), planning to con her daughter out of cash. However, Daisy outsmarted her mum and left alone with the money.

Christina’s baby revelation gives fresh insight into her relationship with Daisy. (Picture: ITV)

Amy explains how giving away Rachel shaped Christina’s relationship with Daisy, as well as who she is today.

‘She had this child. She was in a very difficult situation, and she gave the baby away as a young woman. And that’s absolutely carved out the rest of her life. It’s the reason that she’s never been able to fully commit to her second child. She found mothering Daisy so difficult, because she was feeling so guilty about the first baby that she gave away.’

No wonder. Viewers will learn that Christina fell pregnant as a naive18 year old girl seduced by her boss, who filled her head with promises about leaving his wife – which of course never materialised.

Alone, heartbroken and vulnerable, Christina made the decision and have the baby and tried to bond, but struggled to raise a child without family support. That’s when the father of her baby offered to raise her child with his wife, to give the baby everything in life that a teenage Chrissie could not.

Obviously, the fact that the daughter she gave away was brutally murdered devastates Christina.Amy Robbins shares how this discovery impacts her character, and what it means for her relationship with loveable undertaker George Shuttleworth (Tony Maudsley).

‘I don’t think she’s coping at all. I think the fact that she’s got George to help her through it is incredibly helpful. If she didn’t have George, I don’t know what would have become of her by now. She’d probably have taken off, and you’d never have seen her again. She’s utterly heartbroken, because it’s just all caught up with her. Every silly decision she’s ever made, it all catches up with her. Giving the baby away, and then being a terrible mother to Daisy, and everything.’

‘George being Christina’s pillar of strength is what gets her through’. (Picture: ITV)

‘But I think George being her pillar of strength, is what gets her through. But she’s really struggling, she’s really not handling it at all well. And there’s not many laughs. Suddenly, we see Christina go from being a hoot to seeing her spiralling, she’s getting drunk, in the pub, she’s falling over, she’s crying everywhere, she can’t stop crying. She’s having a bit of a breakdown, I would say.’

Although she’s lost a daughter, Christina has gained a grandchild in Lucy. But given what an explosive presence the troubled teenager is in the Metcalfe household, she may not know the full extent of what she’s taking on – just like Sally and Tim didn’t.

How will Christina react to Lucy, her long-lost granddaughter? (Picture: ITV)

One thing is for certain – expect drama. Amy Robbins gives us a hint about how the secret comes out, and what it means for Christina’s relationship with the Metcalfes.

‘She tries to keep it a secret, but as you can imagine with Christina, she’s not very good. She wears her heart on her sleeve, she’s not very good at playing the long game. She just blurts stuff out, because that’s her nature.’

‘It’s about to get very, very, very awkward and difficult with Sally. Very much so. They’ve got a history of squabbling, the two of them. They’re friends, they’re part of the same friendship group. But I think if any two of them are so different in personality, it’s Sally and Christina. Christina is all over the place, chaotic, wears her heart on her sleeve, and Sally is organised and controlled and neat and tidy and emotionally stable, as far as Christine’s concerned. It’s about to get very nasty between the two of them.’

Does this mean that Christina will go full Miss Marple and uncover the mystery behind Rachel’s death. Amy Robbins is not ruling anything out.

‘She’s gonna do everything that she can, because she thinks that’s the least she can do to make up for all the mistakes she made while poor Rachel was alive.’

‘We have yet to find out the lengths that she’ll go to. At the moment, she is really committed to proving that this Richie character is not all he seems to be. And I think that’s very clear. I’ve been watching it, he’s playing a blinder. The actor, Nathan Sussex, is playing an absolute blinder. Richie’s an absolute rotter, but he’s full of charm and smiles’.

‘I think Christina is a good judge of character, because she knows herself. She’s had such a tough life, she’s a survivor, and she can spot a bad one when she sees one. Maybe because she can spot it in herself.’

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