CHARLIE CONDOU CONFIDENTIAL: CHARLIE CONDOU

CASTING COUCH: GLITTER, SAVILE & ROSSITER

boatybish1: Looking forward to seeing the bbc4 drama on Savile with @tgoodmanh as the lead. Ill b Freddie star.

Charliecondou: @boatybish1 @tgoodmanh can I be leonard rossiter?

boatybish1: @Charliecondou @tgoodmanh any ideas for glitter? I'm thinking @RhysThomasOBE (again)

Charliecondou: @boatybish1 @tgoodmanh @RhysThomasOBE he'd be great. Or @StephenMangan

StephenMangan: @Charliecondou @boatybish1 @tgoodmanh @RhysThomasOBE I’ll do it but Julian R-Tutt has to play Savile.

_DanielRyan: @boatybish1 @charliecondou @tgoodmanh @rhysthomasobe Sorry I sticking my big elbow in here an telling you that I AM the Leader of the Gang.

Charliecondou: @_DanielRyan @boatybish1 @tgoodmanh @rhysthomasobe ok can we all calm down please? There'll be more parts to come over the next week or so

boatybish1: @StephenMangan @charliecondou @tgoodmanh @rhysthomasobe A curve ball there with R Tutt. I still believe TGH has the eyes tho.

Charliecondou: @boatybish1 @StephenMangan @tgoodmanh @rhysthomasobe he has his own shell suits too

boatybish1: @StephenMangan @charliecondou @tgoodmanh @rhysthomasobe how would u research for this 1? I'm going full method.

RhysThomasOBE: @boatybish1 @StephenMangan @charliecondou @tgoodmanh @rhysthomasobe Paul Kaye as Lenny Rossiter. I am happy to be Gadd or Starr

BRUNCH

BABY CLOTHES
BAD TIMING

Eamonn_Forde: I "am going for brunch" with some absolute rotters. @Wendy_Wason @Charliecondou @stephen_hagan (They have all killed people.)

Dempster2000: @Eamonn_Forde @Charliecondou The "real axis of evil".

Eamonn_Forde: @Dempster2000 @Charliecondou He's "a sex Hitler".

Wendy_Wason: Totally conned by @Charliecondou today. Sent me to an amazing baby clothes sale. I bought everything Hal will be wearing in 6 months time.

Charliecondou: @Wendy_Wason I knew you'd fall for it

Wendy_Wason: @Charliecondou petit bateau raincoats reduced from 70 to 20! We should totally marry. Ditch Cam. We'll spend our lives shopping.

misterhsk: @Wendy_Wason @Charliecondou woah?! What about me?! I've been trying to "do" both of you since the 90's. And my bateau is anything but petit
heawood

heawood: @Wendy_Wason @charliecondou PETIT BATEAU RAINCOATS TWENTY NICKER???

misterhsk: @Wendy_Wason @Charliecondou nice to think of Hal in 2013 ghetto chic

Charliecondou: @misterhsk can he have your hand me down Adidas?

misterhsk: @Charliecondou they are ALL his. Given the current climate best avoid sentences using the words "hand" "down" and "Adidas". Why aren't you in Manc?!

Charliecondou: @misterhsk hahahaha. I'm coming up tomorrow eve, will you be there??

misterhsk: @Charliecondou no. I. Shall. Not. X Charliecondou: @misterhsk piss

DANGEROUS WHEN ARMED

DiversityRM: @AlisonMoyet1 sensing a competition with @Charliecondou for wittiest twitter patron. #letthebattlecommence

Charliecondou: RT @JOJEHARVEY: Please follow @NatalieGumede if you fancy funny Strictly shit. She comments n each act. Kirsty from Corrie.

Charliecondou: RT @JOJEHARVEY: I still pronounce Union J as onionge

YOU HEARD IT HERE FOLKS!

JANEP86: @charliecondou Aaww are u leaving corrie

Charliecondou: @JANEP86 not as far as I know
JANEP86

JANEP86: @Charliecondou o thats what i read in the paper

Charliecondou: @JANEP86 don't believe what you read in the tabloids x

EXCLUSIVE: CHARLIE CONDOU SAYS RYAN THOMAS TRIED TO KILL HIM!

Charliecondou: He actually tried to kill me http://t.co/21IMBHDe @ryanjamesthomas

Coronation Street's gay actor Charlie Condou happy to pucker up with Samia Ghadie

By Rick Fulton 3 Nov 2012

THE soap star - who plays Marcus Dent - is embroiled in a sensational and steamy storyline with Samia's Maria Connor.

CORONATION STREET actor Charlie Condou got his own back on co-star Samia Ghadie’s bad kissing etiquette – by tucking into a curry the night before.

In the biggest twist in soapland, Charlie’s gay character, Marcus Dent, and Samia’s crimper, Maria Connor, are about to embark on a controversial romance.

Their first kiss at the beginning of last month was the highest-rated Corrie show since Betty’s funeral – and this Friday they’ll share their second smacker.

But Londoner Charlie, 39, admitted: “I was very good the night before our first kiss – I had a plain dinner, no alcohol and brushed my teeth in the morning. I turned up on set and Samia said, ‘Oh, I’ve had onions for lunch’.

“That set a precedent, so I made sure I had a curry the night before I kissed her the second time, which will be screened this Friday. But now we don’t care because we are kissing every day.”

He may be gay in real life but Charlie is more than happy to lock lips with Samia – onion breath or not.

Since joining the show for the first time in 2007 for a year and returning in 2011, he has puckered up with Antony Cotton, who plays Sean Tully, and Toby Sawyer, who’s Charlie’s on-screen boyfriend, Aiden.

So who is the best kisser out of the three of them? Without a pause Charlie revealed: “Definitely Samia. She’s got nicer lips and less stubble.

“I have kissed girls before but if you are going to kiss any girl, Samia Ghadie is the one you want it to be.

“She is absolutely gorgeous and makes it very easy.

“We are very good friends, anyway, but it’s always a bit awkward when you kiss any of your mates.”

While Samia is mum to three-year-old daughter Freya, Charlie has two children with Canadian boyfriend Cameron Laux.

They have been dating for seven-and-a-half years and have daughter Georgia, two, and son Hal, who’ll be one year old in January. Both were conceived through IVF with friend and actress Catherine Kanter, who shares parenting duties. Charlie is the biological dad.

This week Marcus and Maria will also end up spending a night together and will later find out she’s pregnant.

Charlie said: “I’d love it if Marcus becomes a dad. It would be lovely for me because of the parallel to my own life.”

As a prominent gay man who won Man of the Year at the Attitude awards last month, Charlie admitted he was worried about his midwife character Marcus, despite dating workmate Aiden, falling in love with Maria, whose boyfriend is Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas). It’s not so much a love triangle as a love square.

Charlie, who had girlfriends in his early 20s before realising he was gay, said: “I was surprised but I was assured that the producers wanted to look at what happens when a gay man develops feelings for a woman.

“They didn’t want to take the coward’s way out and say he was bisexual and they didn’t want him to become straight. They just wanted to look at what happens when a gay man falls in love with a woman.”

He revealed that he has had some negative feedback from the gay community but points out that it’s early days yet for the budding relationship. “Of all people, the gay community should know better than to judge people on who they want to sleep with,” said Charlie. “Everyone should be allowed to fall in love with who they want to fall in love with.”

Of course, there have been very public men who have been in gay relationships, then settled down with a woman, married and had a family.

These include Tom Robinson, who sang the hit song Glad To Be Gay, and drummer Jon Moss, who dated Boy George while in Culture Club. And in the main it seems Corrie fans are happy with it. As well as the first kiss between Marcus and Maria attracting 7.8million viewers, fans have been taking to social media to give the couple their backing.

Charlie said: “On Twitter I’m getting lots of people who want Marcus and Maria to get together. I thought most people would be against it but it seems the majority are willing it to happen.”

Of all the British soaps, Corrie has tackled sexuality perhaps the best. Who can forget transsexual Hayley Cropper played by Julie Hesmondhalgh?

Charlie agreed: “If you’d said before 1998 – when she appeared – that Roy would meet a transsexual and live happily ever after, fans would have said, ‘Ridiculous, that’s not a Corrie story’. But they have been at the heart of the show and are among the most popular characters.

“So fingers crossed for Marcus and Maria.

Although he’s been dating real-life boyfriend Cameron for nearly eight years, Charlie admitted that while it’s not “very romantic”, they’ll get married “when we get the time”.

But he is hugely buoyed by the Scottish Government’s determination to allow same-sex marriages in church. And if they go ahead, Scotland will become the first place in the UK where it could happen.

Charlie said: “It’s brilliant Scotland is leading the way.

“I’m not particularly religious – I just believe in equality for everyone.”

Up until 2007 Charlie was a jobbing actor. He started his career as a child in the 1985 American movie The Key to Rebecca, later working on shows such as Casualty, Peak Practice and The Bill.

Soon after joining Corrie as sonographer Marcus, he was seen sticking by Maria’s side when she gave birth to her stillborn baby while he was still Sean Tully’s boyfriend.

Charlie left Corrie in 2008 but was back three years later with promises of a bigger storyline that exploded with Marcus’s kiss with Maria.

On Friday they will kiss again when Maria is forced to reveal her feelings for him after finding out he is moving to London with Aiden.

They become closer and pretty soon both of their relationships are unravelling. In Monday November 12’s episode, Jason attacks Marcus in the Rovers when he finds out what has been going on.

The fight left Charlie reeling after Ryan, the actor who plays Jason, kicked him in the head by mistake.

Charlie said: “I was slightly concussed and had to go off set for 20 minutes. Ryan was mortified and kept phoning me the next day to check I was all right. It’s hard to do those things because he and I are such good friends.”

But despite nursing a head injury, Charlie has never been happier with his career. He said: “Marcus has been around for a while and has never had a storyline of his own until now. He’s always reacted to other people’s. He could have been quite boring. So it’s nice to see him struggling with stuff. He’s had this bond with Maria since delivering her stillborn baby and it seems he really wants children of his own. He’s having a real dilemma.”

After being a jobbing actor for so long Charlie has become a well-loved Corrie character and hopes to stay in Weatherfield for a long time yet.

He added: “It’s the happiest job I’ve ever had.”

Corrie is on STV, Mon, Wed, Fri.

M.O.B.O.

JAMESINREHAB: En route to Gatwick airport to catch a flight with @JLSOfficial to Liverpool for the @MOBOAwards. #needcoffee #mobo

Charliecondou: @JAMESINREHAB @JLSOfficial @MOBOAwards Hosted by the marvellous @miquitaoliver1

JAMESINREHAB: @Charliecondou @JLSOfficial @MOBOAwards @miquitaoliver1 u not doing Mr Condou?

Charliecondou: @JAMESINREHAB alas no! Have fun x

MY GENUINE AND REAL 'CORRIE SOURCE' TELLS ME THAT THE SUN NEWSPAPER HAS IT VERY VERY WRONG - IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY WHAT THEY ARE PRINTING (SEE ARTICLE BELOW), PLEASE LET YOUR COMPLAINTS BE SENT TO THE PROPER AUTHORITIES - NOT JUST TO THE SUN!

NOBODY TAKES THE SUN SERIOUSLY - NOT EVEN ITS STAFF!

ALLEGED

CORRIE SACKINGS 'HIT LIST'

Russell_James: @charliecondou I do hope this isn't true

Confidential_CC: @Russell_James the article also wrongly says @chaliecondou and Samia are having a Corrie baby - it's all been denied by Corrie execs today!

Below: Print copy of article above from UK Sun Newspaper Sat 3rd Nov 2012

By LEIGH HOLMWOOD

TEN top characters are in the firing line in the latest Corrie cull. Faves Karl Munro, Marcus Dent, Izzy Armstrong, Rob Donovan and Mandy Kamara are among those on a hit list drawn up by show bosses.

They will follow Sunita Alahan — whose exit was announced earlier this week — in a bid to freshen up the long-running soap.An insider said: “Executives have a hit list and want to cut the cast by ten — these five are the first in the firing line. “It is partly down to cost cutting, but partly a feeling that some characters have run their course. The actors aren’t aware.” Corrie executive producer Phil Collinson — dubbed The Axeman for previous culls — is leaving in January, to be replaced by Emmerdale boss Stuart Blackburn. Some characters earmarked for the chop have big storylines coming up, but insiders say they will go when they are completed. Gay Marcus Dent, played by Charlie Condou, becomes besotted with pal Maria and gets her pregnant. Karl (John Michie) has been seeing Sunita (Shobna Gulati) but will stalk ex-love Stella. Izzy (Cherylee Houston) is currently involved in a surrogacy plot. Meanwhile, Rob (Marc Bayliss) is Carla’s brother and Mandy (Pamela Nomvete) only joined in September on a short-term contract. A Corrie spokesman said storylines would be discussed in January.

'Coronation Street'

denies cast cull rumours

by Daniel Kilkelly - Saturday, Nov 3 2012

Coronation Street bosses have denied claims that ten characters are facing the axe from the soap. A report in The Sun today (November 3) claims that a string of cast departures are already being planned by the show's new producer Stuart Blackburn, who takes over from current boss Phil Collinson in January. Karl Munro (John Michie), Marcus Dent (Charlie Condou), Izzy Armstrong (Cherylee Houston), Rob Donovan (Marc Baylis) and newcomer Mandy Kamara (Pamela Nomvete) are among those who were tipped as five of the ten supposedly on Blackburn's "hit list". However, a Coronation Street spokesperson told Digital Spy this morning: "No such discussions have been had. The new producer would not even start discussing future storylines until he starts in January 2013." Blackburn, who has been working as Emmerdale's series producer since early 2011, was announced as Collinson's successor last month. Collinson will remain at ITV working on developing new drama once he steps down from Corrie at the end of the year.

BABY BUMP IN THE ROAD

Charliecondou: RT @CoroStreetBlog: Confirmed: ITV deny Marcus and Maria baby storyline #corrie

welshjaci: @Charliecondou yes but you are clearly gr8 with kids and, strangely, good at snogging women! X

Charliecondou: @welshjaci haha my dad would be proud x

welshjaci: @Charliecondou did it for me love!! Xx

Confirmed: ITV deny Marcus and Maria baby storyline

Sadly, the twins (Thomas and Catherine), have been scotched!

The pregnancy test has been taken and it's negative.

Yup, that spoiler in this week's Mirror about Marcus and Maria having a baby on Coronation Street is not true. ITV have confirmed it on This Morning and Charlie Condou tweeted about it to deny it also.

Oddly, there's an interview in today's Mirror with Charlie Condou, who plays Marcus on Corrie and they use the baby spoiler in the interview. Corrie's publicity manager Alison Sinclair has tweeted this today: ‏

aliJcorrie: Lovely article with @Charliecondou in @dailymirror today - such a shame they have repeated Stephen White's inaccurate pregnancy story!!

So there you have it.

It's not true.

There are no buns in Maria's oven

...yet!

HOLY CABLE STITCH, BATMAN!