Thursday, April 15, 2010
CORONATION Street beauty Alison King is having intimate dates with her screen hubby Sean Gallagher, The People can reveal.
Sexy Alison, 34, Weatherfield's hot new character Carla Connor, turned to Sean for comfort after splitting with former London's Burning star Jim Alexander.
A Corrie source said: "Alison and Sean were already close. But in recent weeks they've become even closer."
On Thursday, hours after her break-up with fiance Jim was revealed, Alison and Sean, 40, arrived at her luxury flat near Granada's Manchester studios.
Later they walked to the city's trendy Castlefield Basin, where they relaxed in the sunshine and rehearsed their lines together.
The couple shared a tender moment as Alison nuzzled up to Sean, who plays Paul Connor, and rested her head on his shoulder. Finally they headed for a drink at a local pub, a stone's throw from Alison's apartment
An onlooker said: "They looked very intimate, like a couple in the early stages of a romance.
"And despite news of her split from Jim, she looked to be in high spirits. She was grinning from ear to ear, as was he.
"They laughed and joked while Alison read over her script. But it certainly didn't look like they were working. I mean, could you imagine Vera and Jack Duckworth reciting their lines with each other in the park? I doubt it very much. They looked really comfortable in each other's company and were very touchy-feely.
"She even nuzzled up and rested her head on his shoulder."
Alison has a history of romances with co-stars. She met former love Jim on the set of Sky TV's football drama Dream Team, in which she played man-eater Lynda Block and he was gambling goalie Jamie Parker.
The pair also appeared together in TV adverts for Daz washing powder.
They shared a flat in North London and last year Alison became engaged to Jim, 31, who played Joe Walker in ITV's London's Burning.
Her hectic filming schedules after joining Corrie last year meant she had to move to Manchester, while Jim stayed home alone in the capital.
In January she said: "He's making me very happy and bounding up between London and Manchester. He's coming up for a month in a few days, so I'm looking forward to that very much."
But the pair separated around four weeks ago when their long-distance relationship became strained.
Alison - nominated as sexiest woman in the British Soap Awards next month - had become a household name as underworld boss Paul's wife Carla. Exciting storylines are in the pipeline, including a gripping tale of slave labour, illegal immigrants, and death.
But for Jim the work dried up and he has now moved out of the flat they shared. Our source said: "She tried her best to keep the relationship going but in the end they broke up."
Alison is said to be devastated by the split. But her closeness to Sean has put a smile back on her face.
Last night a source at Corrie said: "It's been a tough time for Alison over the past few weeks. If it wasn't for Sean I don't know how she would have coped. He's been a rock."
Sean, who once dated actress Fay Materson, told Corrie bosses he was quitting in February and his character will be dramatically killed off in the summer. He has said to have been unhappy on the soap since the word go.
Our source added: "Alison will greatly miss Sean, as will everybody." Alison studied drama in Manchester and first appeared in Corrie in 2004, playing a raunchy housewife who seduced builder Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas).
The part left sultry Alison with an unwanted nickname on set.
She joked. "I was Mrs Fanshaw - or Fanny. What a nightmare!" Alison has been linked romantically to two other fellow Coronation Street stars in the past, Phil Middlemiss and Simon Gregson. She first went out with Phil, 43, who played bookie Des Barnes, for five years. Then for a month she dated Simon, 32, loveable rogue Steve Mc-Donald - before dumping him by phone.
In both cases she blamed being apart - just like the problem with Jim. She was in London at the time and the two Corrie stars were in Manchester.
Phil later said Alison was the only woman he had ever loved.
Alison and Sean are not the first on-screen Corrie love-birds to fall in love in real life.