INTERVIEW WITH SYDNEY MARTIN ABOUT BETSY'S 18TH AND THE FAMILY DYNAMIC

During next week's episodes to Weatherfield, Coronation Street viewers will see Betsy Swain turn 18, and actress Sydney Martin recently spoke about her character's milestone, and what an eventful week the character is set to have.

When Sydney Martin was asked about how do you think Betsy is feeling about her 18th birthday, with the actress commenting "I think it's an interesting one because it's a milestone birthday, it obviously brings up a lot of emotions. She doesn't have her other mum with her to celebrate and because of that she's had to do a lot of growing up quite quickly." Before continuing "So as much as it's exciting and she does want that freedom I think it's probably a bit of a shock that this big birthday is here. She's officially an adult but she feels like she's missing what should be quite a big part of her life in her other mum and Mason, and I don't think she really knows how to handle that."

Do you think she is feeling more settled now in the sense of her mum and Carla being together or do you think there’s still a yearning for her past life that she's craving? "I think there's a lot of love for the family dynamic that she has going on. Obviously, it's still very new, it's still very fresh. They lived together at the flat, but this is a house and it all feels very real now and I think she's very grateful for that. Carla's come into her life and has started to fill this missing gap that was there. No one's going to replace her mum and Betsy knows that but
I don't think it's something she necessarily holds against Carla anymore." Sydney then went on to say "She's still so young and she’s trying to figure it all out and it is a tricky one, but I think she's very grateful for the dynamic that she's in now.
I think it's just a case of navigating her emotions when milestone birthdays come round like this, getting used to that this is the new normal."

Photo Credit: ITV/ Coronation Street

Later in the week in true Betsy style she lashes out and ends up in trouble at the scene of the car crash, does her life flash before her eyes as she sees the car coming towards her, talking about this Sydney said "On the morning of her 18th we see this nice family dynamic, then as the days goes on we see this very teenage side. She goes out, she's had a bit of a mard, she's got herself a bit drunk, she's just upset, and then all of a sudden, in the same place that she lost Mason, there's a car hurtling towards her. I think it's the wake up call that she needs her mum, she needs Carla, she needs Ryan, and she needs this family unit. Although grief is such a horrible emotion, you can rely on the people around you, it doesn't make you weak, it doesn't make you a child. She needs to see they’re not trying to treat her like a child, they're just trying to understand her." Before adding "Just before the crash it was her mum that she was reaching for, it was her mum that she was leaving a voicemail for. She is grateful to her mum and for Carla for stepping into this motherly role now. This is a wake up call that life can be taken away in a split second."

Finally, are you enjoying the dynamic of Betsy, Lisa, Carla and Ryan all living together, Sydney stated "I love it, I just love filming on that set. I love the domesticated scenes and there are some really good scenes coming up with Ryan, they have this kind of brotherly sisterly dynamic that I've been dying to play. I love being able to represent this blended family on screen because there are so many blended families out there from all different backgrounds." Sydney went on to say "My favourite scenes to film are just us all having breakfast all together because that's real and it's real lives and I think that's what Corrie does so well. It represents a realness where not everything's perfect, but at the end of the day, you have your family, whatever shape or form that comes in. I'm really enjoying it."

Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday's at 8pm on ITV1 with episodes available from 7am on the day episodes air.