Corrie mainstay Sally Carman-Duttine talks about life with her co-star-turned hubby Joe Duttine, her character Abi being on the verge of an affair – and her ‘spontaneous’ side
Sally Carman-Duttine has a lot to thank Coronation Street for. In troubled mechanic Abi Webster, the actress has landed her dream role and she also ended up meeting and marrying her cobbles co-star Joe Duttine. The couple live happily together in a village just outside Stockport and Sally is a stepmum to Joe’s three children. But as happy as the couple are off screen, Sally admits in an exclusive chat with OK! that working with her husband, who plays taxi boss Tim Metcalfe, is a nightmare. “I’d be very happy never to have a scene with him ever again,” she says, laughing.
“I love Joe to bits, but I don’t like working with him – I’m never going to like working with him. Bless him, we’ve got very different work processes – let’s just put it like that. I like to come fully prepared and he likes to flesh it out on the floor. Also, he’s very funny. I’m such a giggler and once I’ve gone, I’m gone. It’s terrible and even if people get annoyed about it, it doesn’t help. He absolutely makes me howl with laughter and he does it on purpose. I get cross with him because he knows the situation, but he can’t help himself.”
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Sally, 49, met Joe, 54, shortly after she joined the show in 2017 and the couple walked down the aisle in 2022. “I’m enjoying married life,” she says, smiling. “Joe is awesome – I’ve lucked out big time. He’s my buddy and also I like to kiss him.”
The same sadly can’t be said for former drug addict Abi, who tied the knot with garage owner Kevin Webster just a few months before Sally wed for real. While Sally and Joe are very content, Abi and Kevin’s romance has hit the rocks, leaving Abi on the verge of an affair.
Since Kevin was diagnosed with cancer in February, he has become angry and withdrawn, and when Abi bumps into a good-looking man in a supermarket car park, sparks fly. The two fall out over a parking space, but when he tells her she’s funny and gorgeous and asks her out for a drink, she’s sorely tempted.
“It’s complete lust at first sight,” Sally says. “There’s that frisson and electricity – it’s undeniable. They just get on. It was an instant attraction – they riffed off each other and it wakes something up in Abi that’s been left dormant for a very long time. She’s an addict and it’s given her a buzz. It’s a different kind of buzz, but it’s exciting for her.”
Later that day, Abi is shocked to discover that the man is none other than Carl Webster, Kevin’s younger half-brother, and when Kevin invites him to stay, she’s horrified. “Because that’s too much of a temptation,” Sally explains. “She’s teetering on the edge and white finger-nailing around him every day because she absolutely just wants to dive straight in.»
“He’s woken up her wild side, her passionate side and her sexual side. That was never really what her relationship with Kevin was about. That relationship is more loving than being in love and it is gratitude as well. Kevin was a massive part of her recovery – getting sober and having stability – she needed that and craved it. But now, having met Carl, she’s like, ‘Oh, what’s this?’ It’s early days, but it’s interesting to see how far she’ll go with it and what she’ll get up to in order to achieve her desired result, which is copping off with a gorgeous man!”
Yorkshire-born Sally made her TV debut in City Central in 1998 and was a jobbing actress until 2005, when she landed the role of former heroin addict and prostitute Kelly Maguire in Shameless , a part she played until 2013. The role made her name, but Sally admits there was another unexpected benefit – it helped her get into the best shape of her life.
“When I was on Shameless , I worked out every single day because most of the time I had no clothes on,” she jokes. “I was playing a prostitute, so I was literally walking around in a bra and knickers. I swore by Pilates and I was super, super fit.” Four years later, Sally joined Coronation Street. So, is she worried about getting typecast in those sorts of roles? “That ship sailed!” she says, grinning.
“The thing is, I always go to auditions looking smart. I always wash my hair and my armpits and put on make-up. Yet I’m still always seen as the one who can play a tart, a prostitute, a drug addict or somebody who has fallen on hard times. But I’m OK with it. I get to play meaty parts and really interesting characters. I feel so lucky and I don’t understand how anyone could be upset about being typecast because that means you’re working, doesn’t it?
“I came into work yesterday and went into the Rovers Return and there was Joe, Sue Devaney [Debbie Webster], Mike Le Vell [Kevin Webster] and a few others. I got a real moment of gratitude where I thought, ‘It’s the best job in the world and I work here and I get to hang out with these people.’
“I love Coronation Street – I felt settled from day one. It was a long time coming. It took me 20-odd years to get here. I’ve had a very full career, I’ve done everything I want to do, so there’s no feeling of, ‘Oh, I really want to do this as well.’ I don’t. I’m getting everything I need as an actor creativity-wise from Abi. I do want to do a Christmas film one day, I will admit that, but otherwise Coronation Street ticks all the boxes.”
Calm and content, in real life Sally credits much of her happiness to husband Joe and her Christian faith. The couple married at St Philips in Salford, the same church where Sally was baptised two years previously, after she became a Christian 11 years ago. “My biggest passion in life is my faith,” she explains. “It’s less about doing and more about receiving God’s love. It’s about stripping away what isn’t important and focussing on what is. It’s a very real thing for me. I don’t know how people manage life without it to be honest.”
Away from work, Joe is keen on nature and the outdoors; canoeing and hiking in the wilderness. But Sally admits with a laugh that she doesn’t necessarily share his passions. “He likes to be active outside a lot. I like to be outside a lot, but I like to be sitting down!” she says. “I’m really happy if I’m on the sofa under a blanket, watching a film or re-runs of Friends or reading a book. I love my own company, I’m never bored. I’m quite happy pottering around and hanging out with my dog, who’s my best mate.”
While her life is a world away from the chaos that surrounds her character, Abi, Sally admits they do have one thing in common – spontaneity. “I make my mind up very quickly,” she reveals. “I was once on tour with a play. I’d done a week of the show with long hair and all the press photos had me with long hair and then I suddenly had it all cut off. I was out and I just thought, ‘Oh, I’ll get my hair cut.’ I didn’t plan it.
“Or I’ll just walk in and get a tattoo. I’ve got three, but one I’ve had done four or five times. It’s been cover up after cover up – it’s actually hideous, I hate it! The most recent is a fancy J with three stars on my ribs. The J is for Joe and the stars are for his three kids. That one is really nice.”
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