Coronation Street kicks off a non-consensual sex storyline next week when Aaron Sandford and Amy Barlow get drunk together.
After they share a kiss before a night out, the flatmates are a bit awkward. Amy is full of guilt after locking lips with her best friend’s fella.
And Aaron is prickly and uncomfortable, having been arguing with girlfriend Summer before his kiss with Amy.
Aaron and Amy home alone in Coronation Street
When Amy leaves the night out at the bistro early and heads home, Aaron decides to go too. The pair then get drunk together, polishing off every bit of booze in the flat!
Amy heads into her bedroom on the hunt for more drinks, but instead she decides she’s had too much and lies down on her bed.
Aaron, though, follows her into the room.
He gets into bed with her and then tries to kiss her.
A drunken Amy is totally oblivious as he carries on…
Failing to read the signals
It sounds shocking, and actor James Craven, who plays mechanic Aaron in Coronation Street, says his alter ego would also agree!
“He would be devastated,” James says. “Aaron believes he hasn’t done anything wrong in that moment.”
So how did he get to this moment and making such a huge mistake?
Making a mistake
“Aaron is having feelings he shouldn’t be having,” James explains. “It’s new and exciting and unexpected.
“They share a lovely moment between two friends, who have both just lost their partners. They need each other and they need each other’s support.”
But things take a dark turn when the mates get drunk together.
Things take a dark turn
“They know there’s something between them. It’s just easy,” James says. “There’s lots of drinking going on. They’ve drunk a lot.”
And when Amy goes to lie down, James says that Aaron simply “fails to read the signals”.
“The biggest mistake he makes in this moment is he assumes she’s okay to continue,” he adds. “Everything leading up to this has been fine. That’s his biggest mistake – he doesn’t check in with Amy. It’s a lack of care, due to a lack of thought.”
The morning after for Amy and Aaron in Coronation Street
So the next morning, how does Aaron feel? Does he realise he’s done something wrong? It seems not, according to James.
“His immediate thoughts when he first wakes up are ‘oh god I’ve slept with my ex’s best mate’, and wondering how to approach that,” says James.
“But there’s no thought in his mind that he’s done anything wrong. He’s trying to piece together what went on.”
In fact, it’s not until Amy points out that this was non-consensual sex that Aaron realises that he’s made a big mistake.
“He’s definitely shocked to hear that,” says James. “From Aaron’s point of view, he believes he hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Coronation Street: Is Aaron a bad person?
James says that his alter ego isn’t evil.
“He hasn’t been this evil character, malicious character in the past, but that’s why this story is so important,” James explains. “Despite how Aaron is as a character, he’s still capable of doing something like this.”
James also adds that as an actor it’s been quite a tricky storyline to play.
“The hard part for me was to find a way to justify the character’s actions,” he says.
The actors have been working with the Schools Consent Project to make sure they get everything right. And James says everyone at Coronation Street has worked very hard to make sure he and Elle Mulvaney, who plays Amy, were comfortable at all times.
“The crew were amazing,” says James.
He added: “You could feel this energy on set and everyone felt really focused. Everyone working towards one thing which was a great feeling.
What can we learn from Aaron’s behaviour?
“We hope it’ll start a conversation,” says James. “We knew when we set out to do this story, we knew we’d not educate everyone, but we wanted to tell the best story we possibly could and deliver it with truth.”
And he adds: “The most important thing to take away from this is that no matter how you’re feeling, whether you’ve had a lot to drink, in intimate situations, no no is not a yes. Only a yes is a yes.”
Read more: Who is in the cast of Coronation Street in 2023?
Coronation Street usually airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.
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