Corrie's Michelle Keegan On Going From Shop Girl To Soap Star

Mar 16 2008 By Billy Sloan

Exclusive Just Six Months Ago She Was Selling Lipstick At Selfridge's..now She's Britain's Hottest Soap Star.. Michelle Keegan Tells How She Beat Her Nerves To Conquer Corrie

MICHELLE KEEGAN'S life was turned upside down when she quit a steady job selling make-up behind the counter of a posh department store.

Just months after leaving she was hitting the soap headlines after her character had an abortion and was forced to lie to provide an alibi for her psycho boyfriend who's facing an attempted murder charge.

The pretty 20-year-old admits she was terrified when she was catapulted into the middle of one of Corrie's hottest storylines.

Actress Michelle plays Tina McIntyre - the sexy girlfriend of teenager from hell, David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd).

She landed the part last November after selling lipsticks and make-up at Selfridge's in Manchester's famous Trafford Centre shopping mall - a stone's throw from the soap's backlot at Granada TV.

Michelle thought the nearest she'd ever get to being a Coronation Street star was serving members of the soap's cast when they shopped in the store.

She said: "I was great at selling makeup... I definitely had the gift of the gab.

"But I'd also studied drama at college and took acting lessons once a week. Last October I got an agent and was offered the part of Tina a month later.

"When the Corrie producers told me everything that was going to happen to Tina in the next few months, I was terrified.

"It was such an emotional storyline to be involved in I was scared and wondered if I'd really be able to pull it off.

"But it's been a real challenge and good to get my teeth into something. I've been plunged straight into the Street and loved every minute of it."

This week, the storyline revolving around her romance with evil David Platt takes another dramatic twist.

After Tina had become pregnant, she was convinced by David's mother Gail (Helen Worth) to have an abortion.

When a furious David found out he pushed his mum downstairs and she is lying unconscious in intensive care at Weatherfield General.

As the drama unfolds, Gail comes round but can't remember how she got her injuries.

The police suspect David has lashed out at his mum and he faces a charge of attempted murder.

Michelle said: "I think Tina still feels guilty about having a termination without telling David.

"That's why she agrees to give him an alibi and tell police he was at her house when Gail plunged down the stairs.

"She is in love with David and panics. She can see how desperate he is."

Michelle admits she was too scared to watch the explosive scene in which David attacked Gail.

Laughing, she said: "I deliberately kept away from it in case I freaked out. David just left his mum lying there...what a weirdo."

Away from Corrie, Michelle is dating actor Anthony Quinlan, 22, who plays Gilly Roach in Hollyoaks.

They met when she auditioned for a bit part in the top Channel 4 soap.

But the actress claims their reallife relationship is nothing like that of Tina and David.

She said: "Before I knew Jack, I remember watching all the scenes where he terrorised his sister Sarah and caused mayhem at her wedding.

"I remember thinking: 'What a horrible spoiled brat.' I told Jack that when I began working with him and he laughed.

"But in my normal life, I'd run a mile from a guy like David Platt - he scares me to death.

"I don't think I have much in common with Tina.

"I'm very laid back while she's definitely more confrontational.

"But I'm really enjoying being part of the Corrie team and hope the relationship between Tina and David goes on to bigger and better things.

"Who knows, maybe she can keep him on a more even keel and stop him being so nasty."

'In my normal life I'd run a mile from a guy like David Platt - he scares me to death'

Michelle Keegan

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