Corrie viewers were left scratching their heads after last night’s episode when Tyrone Dobbs and Alina Pop shared a kiss.
There was a time, actors on screen usually snogged all the time but love scenes in the time of Covid are not allowed.
The UK is still in lockdown and social distancing measures will remain in place until June 21 at the earliest so how did they get away with this?
Our sister site Manchester Evening News can reveal all.
The actors playing Tyrone and Alina were not actually anywhere near each other in the scene filmed on the memorial bench of the Victoria Gardens.
Instead, regular Coronation Street extra Mulvaney and his wife Hannah stepped in and took on their roles.
Alan Halsall ( Tyrone) and Ruxandra Porojnicu ( Alina Pop) were shot having the conversation separately and it was later composited together during post-production to give the illusion that they were next to each other.
A massive amount of effort went into making the scenes look as realistic as possible.
Corrie’s design department taped a pair of sunglasses onto a telescopic radio aerial so the on-screen love birds could give the impression of gazing into each other’s eyes.
Alex and Hannah were then called in to kiss for real as the camera pulled back to see the couple in a clinch on the bench.
Hannah had hair paint on the ends of her hair to make it look more like the character of Alina.
Alex Mulvaney said: “My agent said that Coronation Street needed extras who were in a support bubble.
“Hannah hadn’t done any extra work before, but my agent knew she had dark hair like Alina’s so I asked her if she wanted to do it.
“She was nervous at first, but she is a big Coronation Street fan. I had been on set many times before, and I was able to talk her through what to expect and she was a bit starstruck when she saw the actors.”
Corrie producer Iain MacLeod explained: “For the most part, our brilliant writers, cast and crew have cleverly worked around the inability of our characters to get within two metres of each other.
“We have therefore told the same stories throughout the pandemic that we would have told in “normal” times.
“But it just felt wrong to tell a story of an illicit liaison, where someone betrays their partner based on lust and sexual attraction, only for us not to see any of the chemistry and closeness. Hence the smoke and mirrors here!”
