Leanne's Leaving For Liverpool
To avoid the secret of her baby's father getting out and to spare Nick more heartache Leanne makes the decision to move to Liverpool. We asked Jane Danson whether anything could tempt Leanne to stick around?
How did you react when you found out about Leanne’s pregnancy shock, and that Steve would be the daddy?
At first I was intrigued by how it came about because Leanne and Steve have never really been romantically linked. They were good friends a long time ago, and they occasionally revisit that friendship when they’re going through a tough time, but it was put to me that it was a bit of a moment in time where they were both a bit low and feeling a bit vulnerable. Leanne was in turmoil over Nick and Steve thought Michelle was leaving the Street.
Things like this can happen but it’s just Leanne’s luck that it goes a bit pear shaped. I think it’s been very clever, it’s had everybody guessing. Leanne’s finally pregnant with the baby she’s always wanted but it’s bittersweet as it’s with Steve, who’s married to Michelle, who’s always been quite nice to Leanne.
As time goes on we see a friendship developing between Leanne and Michelle which makes Leanne feel even more guilty because she feels really two faced, she has this huge secret which could destroy Michelle’s life.
Did you have lots of people asking you who the father was?
Yes, Twitter’s gone crazy for it! Most people thought it was Robert because there was a slight flirtation between them which was a bit of a red herring. Also Zeedan was in the mix because they have a nice friendship but that would have been a bit wrong seen as he’s her ex’s fiance’s son. Then there was Nick, there’s obviously masses of history there but that would have just been too easy.
Does Leanne want this baby, and what would it mean for her to have a child of her own?
She really wants this baby, she’s always wanted a baby and she’s had difficulties in the past, experiencing both miscarriage and abortion, so this is her third time lucky. Because of her history she sees this as her last chance, she thought that it would never happen and that her chance was gone so even though this isn’t the most ideal of circumstances she wants to make a go of it.
Let’s face it she’s done pretty much everything else in her life on her own so I don’t think she sees it as such a big deal. I think she’ll cope quite well.
Given how complicated life will become for her and Steve, does she want Steve to be apart of the baby’s life?
There’s a chink of ‘do you want anything to do with this?’ for all of 5 seconds, then as soon as he says no she says well let’s forget it ever happened, you can carry on with your life and I’ll carry on with mine.
That said they live about 20 yards from each other so it’s not going to be easy.
Talk us through Leanne’s reasons for wanting to leave Weatherfield and move to Liverpool?
Nick’s feelings for her are becoming more and more apparent and as time goes on she realises that she’s got feelings for him too. But given what he’s gone through with Carla and Robert, and how much he’s been hurt, she almost sacrifices herself to stop him hurting so she decides to leave. With his brain injury as well she doesn’t want him to suffer any more unnecessary pain.
How does Leanne feel when Michelle reveals she’s pregnant?
Fuming! She’s fuming with Steve because when she told him she was pregnant he said ‘how could you let this happen’ now he’s gone and planned a baby with Michelle and it makes the whole situation even more complicated. Michelle was there for Leanne when Leanne was at her most vulnerable and now Michelle wants to be pregnancy buddies and it’s all getting a bit much.
Everywhere she turns, the more she tries to back away from it, it seems to chase her, she can’t get away from it and it’s on her mind all the time.
How does Leanne feel when Nick stops her from leaving and reveals that he knows about the pregnancy?
He declares his feelings and says maybe we can make this work. But given the baby is someone else’s it’s whether Nick can accept that or not. Taking on Steve’s baby would be a huge undertaking because Steve lives on the street and they see him every day.
What does it mean for Leanne when Nick tells her he wants to help raise the baby and be a family?
She’s torn and she feels guilty, what Nick is offering is great but while she’s trying to blank out the fact that she’s carrying someone else’s baby it’s a ticking time bomb and deep down she knows this moment won’t last forever.
Talk us through the moment when Leanne’s pregnancy is revealed in the Rovers, and how she and Steve deal with it?
It’s awful, you don’t reveal somebody else’s baby news, but then it’s Tracy Barlow sticking her neck in. She’s seen them at the hospital while she was having a kidney check up so Leanne’s backed into a corner and because she’s not had the time to cook up a story Nick jumps in and says it’s mine.
Obviously it’s plausible because they’re living together and because of their history but it’s not got them off to the best of starts.
How do you think Leanne would cope if the real truth came out? In a catfight between Leanne and Michelle, who do you think would win?
I think that’d be quite a good fight, they’re both little powerhouses although they are both pregnant so shouldn’t really be fighting! I think it would be more of a verbal slanging match. Michelle would obviously be devastated to know what her husband did but in Leanne’s eyes they were on a break and it takes two to tango.
Even though she feels guilty Leanne will come out fighting her corner, she’ll never admit she was wrong.
How do you feel about the prospect of filming birth scenes?
I’ve never had to do it on screen before so I don’t know. I suppose all births are different so there’s no right or wrong, I just hope it’s a lot quicker than mine were!
Are you looking forward to working with a newborn on set?
Well working with children and animals is always unpredictable but I’m a mum so I hope it comes back to me, it’s been awhile.
How does it feel to have such a big storyline with Simon Gregson after all these years of working together?
It’s always nice to work with different people. We’ve had big storylines together before a long time ago so it’s nice to revisit that, which they have done as friends over the years. There was a scene about 18 months ago where they were sat on a bench talking about the old days and I think possibly that’s where this story was born. (SEE BELOW!)