Coronation Street star Tina O'Brien has revealed that the ITV soap's gruelling work schedule is taking a toll on her health and well-being. The 35-year-old, who has played Sarah-Louise Platt from 1999 to 2007 and 2015 onwards, has admitted that she is struggling with the early morning starts – just weeks after seven of her co-stars announced they were leaving the cobbles.
Tina plays Sarah Platt
"I'm not always calm. It was 7am starts at work every day last week" she told the Daily Star. "There were moments I thought, 'I don't know how I am going to get through the week. I just have to take the rough with the smooth'." Tina also revealed that her filming schedule has been so hectic, she was unable to have a proper honeymoon with new husband Adam Crofts, following their low-key New Year's Eve ceremony in Manchester. She added: "We planned a mini-moon. We only got four days off."
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Tina married Adam in December
Tina isn't the only star struggling with the 12-hour days, her co-star Julia Goulding, who plays Shona Ramsay, recently claimed she didn't have time to plan her own wedding to new-husband Ben Silver because of her Corrie workload. Julia told The Sun: "There's not really been a moment's rest, but that's just the way I like it. You can get your teeth really stuck in and even in quieter periods she's working in Roy's Rolls so it's nice to be in the hub of everything. I was very fortunate as well, as I was very busy at work so my husband did a lot of the planning with me."
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Tina's comments come after a number of the soap's stars announced they were quitting. Lucy Fallon, who plays Tina's on-screen daughter Bethany Platt, was the seventh star in three months to announce she would be leaving the soap, hot on the heels of Faye Brookes, Kym Marsh and Katie McGlynn. Bhavna Limbachia quit her role in January and was later killed off after the factory roof collapsed. Connie Hyde and Tristan Gemmill have also announced their planned departures.
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