Coronation Street fans are set to see a lot more of Maria Connor in coming weeks as she takes centre stage in dramatic storyline.
The Weatherfield hairdresser will be left debating what to do as her partner Gary Windass (Mikey North) discovers his killer secret could be revealed imminently.
Corrie spoilers have revealed that Rick Neelan’s body will discovered in upcoming scenes.
Will Gary get caught or will Maria help him hide his murder secret?
Actress Samia Longchambon, 39, first catapulted to fame as Maria Connor on the ITV soap opera in 2000.
Over the past 21 years, the Weatherfield hairdresser has found herself at the centre of major storylines from steamy love affairs to imprisonment.
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
During her recent interview on ITV Lorraine, Samia was asked about Maria’s taste in men.
Lorraine Kelly revealed her team had worked out Maria’s “bodycount” over her two-decade long span on the cobbles was 31 men.
The actress responded: “My eyes are watering looking at that! I can’t believe that! That’s quite impressive, if that’s the right word. I didn’t know it was that many!”
(Image: INSTAGRAM)
While unlucky in love Maria is yet to find Mr Right, the birthday girl has found the man of her dreams in the shape of her hunky French professional ice skater husband Sylvain Longchambon.
Daily Star has taken a sneak peek into Samia and Sylvain’s love story.
The happy couple met while performing together in the eighth series of Dancing on Ice in 2013.
(Image: UK Press via Getty Images)
Samia, then known by her maiden name Samia Ghadie, was dating actor Will Thorp, who appeared in Coronation Street for a short while in the early 2010s.
Sylvain was dating his former skating Dancing on Ice partner and Hollyoaks star Jennifer Metcalfe, after they met during the sixth series of the show.
Samia and Sylvain both dumped their partners to try out a relationship together after chemistry sizzled between the pair while filming the ITV ice-skating competition.
(Image: WireImage)
Jennifer was reportedly livid to be dumped by Sylvain on Christmas Day, according to The Sun.
Corrie babe Samia already had a child from her first marriage to property expert Matthew Smith, a little girl Freya, who was born in 2009.
Sylvain and Samia later confirmed their relationship and welcomed their first child together, a son called Yves Josphe Longchambon, in September 2015.
(Image: samia_longchambon/Instagram)
The couple tied the knot in a secret ceremony located at an elegant country manor set in the heart of Cheshire in August 2016.
The actress told OK! magazine at the time: “The day was better than we could ever have imagined.
“It was absolutely magical to spend it with friends and family who we love. To have them all in one place celebrating with us was amazing.”
Samia has previously said she believes her relationship with Sylvain came about after her father Joseph, who died in 2009, sent Sylvain to her from beyond the grave.
She told Loose Women: “I believe in angels and I always think my dad sent Sylvain to me.”
Samia and her first husband Matthew Smith married in a lavish ceremony in Cheshire in September 2005 when she was just 22.
Like what you see? Then fill your boots…
There’s MUCH more where that came from! Want all the jaw-dropping stories from the world of showbiz and up to the minute news from TV and soaps?
Well, we’ve got you covered with our showbiz, TV and soaps newsletters – they’ll drop straight into your inbox and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.
We’ll bring you the inside track from telly expert Ed Gleave and soap specialist Sasha Morris. Oh, and your daily fix of Piers, Katie Price, Demi Rose and all your other Daily Star favs.
You can sign up here – you won’t regret it…
After six years of marriage, the pair divorced in 2011.
The actress took to her Twitter page at the time to announce she was changing her surname.
She wrote: “So I’ve got a new surname everyone… it’s my old one.”
Within weeks of announcing their separation, it was revealed Samia had started dating her Corrie co-star Will.
Former Casualty actor Thorp ended his seven year marriage to wife Samantha, mother of his two children, before his romance with Samia.
Both actors insisted at the time that their relationship didn’t begin until after leaving their spouses.
Speaking just week after their split, Matthew, who shares daughter Freya with Samia, told The Sun: ‘They have to live with what they have done.
“She’s my wife, I love her and we’ve got a child together. If she wants to speak to me, she can. I’m just trying to get on with my life.”
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday on ITV at 8pm
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newslettershere
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
