Coronation Street's Katie McGlynn gives Daniel her blessing to move on: "Give him a break!"
Katie is up for an National Television Award for her role as Sinead Tinker
Coronation Street viewers said an emotional goodbye to Sinead Tinker (Katie McGlynn) in October last year, but her impact on the soap is still being felt.
At the moment, Weatherfield is a lonely place for Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) and his baby boy, Bertie, as he struggles to come to terms with the loss of his wife.
As she lay in bed dying, Daniel kissed Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon), something he came to regret when Sinead passed away.
However, the brave mother gave Daniel her blessing before she left him - something actress Katie was pleased to see.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Katie spoke about her final scenes on Coronation Street after her shortlisted nomination for Drama Performance in The National Television Awards 2020.
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She said of the impact the story has had: "I still get messages today about the storyline. The response has been amazing. It's been really positive and there's been an increase on smear tests since the episode. It's nice to be nominated for the award, but receiving messages like that is amazing.
"The fact people have picked up the phone and voted in this category - that's what I can't get over. It's just love. We must have done the storyline justice to get this now. Originally when we were doing the story I was really worried about getting it right because I didn't want to offend anyone going through it - I think we did OK."
When pressed as to what she makes of Daniel's storyline now, Katie admitted: "I've not really been watching a lot of it because I've been super busy. I have an inkling of what's coming and I think it's really good showing the aftermath of something like this.
"I don't know exactly what's going on but I think people need to give Daniel a break! Speaking to people, there's so many different avenues Daniel could have gone down, with his reaction to grief and the cancer; it's important seeing the aftermath of Sinead dying and Daniel being left on his own with Bertie. I think it's really important anyone watching and going through that sees and knows they're not alone."
Perhaps one of the most upsetting scenes in Sinead's death episode was seeing her forgive Daniel for his mistakes and asking him to move on with his life when she died.
"That's the kind of person she is," Katie said. "She had to put fast-forward on her life and she had to forgive him; she didn't have time not to forgive him. The fact she said she wanted him to move on shows she just loves Daniel so of course she would say that to him. It broke his heart even more she said that to him but it shows what kind of admirable person she was."
You can vote free online at nationaltvawards.com or by phone on 0905 647 2020. Votes must be in by 12 pm on Tuesday 28th January.
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Helen Daly is the Associate Editor for Radio Times, overseeing new initiatives and commercial projects for the brand. She was previously Deputy TV Editor at a national publication. She has a BA in English Literature and an MA in Media & Journalism from Newcastle University.
