Corrie: Bernie and Summer fear for Paul's life in teaser clip
Coronation Street star Peter Ash has shared insights into shooting his character Paul Foreman's final moments.
Debuting on the cobbles back in 2018, Paul is facing the end of the road after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year. This marked a first for the ITV soap as viewers witnessed the initial signs with Paul's gripping troubles, ultimately leading to his devastating referral to a neurologist.
Now, with no cure available, his condition has severely worsened. Fans were stunned as Paul revealed his desire to decide when to end his own life, his speech and mobility fading rapidly earlier this year.
In an upcoming emotional episode set to air Monday, September 9, Paul will succumb to MND. The heartbreaking scenes will unfold as his partner Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank) and mother Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove) are left to bid farewell, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Amidst the drama, spoilers indicate that Billy deserts Paul at a critical moment, desperately trying to find his phone from the previous evening, leaving Bernie and Summer struggling to sustain Paul's life.
Time is ticking, and with great uncertainty, the question arises: will Billy return in time to offer Paul one last goodbye?
Opening up to Express and various media outlets, Peter Ash recounted his experience filming those poignant final scenes, revealing a "tricky" moment. He reflected: "It was a beautiful scene. It was quite hard to not get emotional during the scene."
He revealed: "The other cast members are giving those beautiful goodbyes, and I've got to pretend to not hear it."
Discussing the challenges of his final scene, Peter said: "And especially once he does pass, it's that thing of trying not to breathe at all, which gets a bit tricky after a while!"
READ MORE:
Corrie viewers 'fume' over Billy's blunder as Paul’s tragic death looms [SOAP]
Corrie icon's return floors fans after going 'missing' - but there’s bad news [SOAP]
Corrie fans ecstatic as ‘classic character’ makes return after lengthy break [SOAP]
Reflecting on his departure, Peter shared: "But the scene in general, it was just a beautiful way to end it. Obviously, I'm not going to give anything away apart from that, but it was great to have all my favourites there in my last scene."
Peter also spoke about the immense pressure he felt to accurately portray a character with MND, stating: "When Ian MacLeod [Coronation Street's boss] first told me I'd be doing this we had no idea of time scale, and also to what point we would take the deterioration of Paul."
When asked about the responsibility of getting the portrayal right, he responded: "Not just the physicality, every aspect of the storyline because so many people are unfortunately living with it."
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX
