When NWAS met Corrie

Corrie’s Tanisha Gorey on becoming an on-screen paramedic

Coronation Street actor Tanisha Gorey, who plays Asha Alahan on the ITV 1 soap, recently put on a green uniform for the first time as her character begins life on the road as a student paramedic.

As part of her research for the role, Tanisha visited Highfield ambulance station in Bolton to meet staff, including Paramedic Bushra, to speak about their experiences of life in an ambulance. She also sat down to give us an insight into her hopes for the future and what she feels like at the beginning of this storyline.

“I am thrilled! It’s an amazing story,” Tanisha says, “I think it is great for Asha to do such an amazing job; it’s such an aspirational role. And it’s good to show the audience that she’s aspiring to work within the NHS. I’m so pleased and looking forward to seeing where it goes.”

The next obvious question is: Does real life imitate television, and could she step into the shoes of a paramedic outside of Weatherfield?

“Honestly, I very nearly studied it at university,” Tanisha reveals.

“When I was 18, I was looking at Open University. I am still very interested in it to the point where I could potentially train. All the gory stuff and the blood doesn’t really bother me. Of course, I know that’s not all you have to deal with, but I think it’s something I could pursue.”

Tanisha’s first scenes on the road won’t be seen for a few weeks yet, and as for the storylines, she’s in the dark as much as the rest of us. However, she’s desperate to show off her character’s medical skills in dramatic fashion.

“I don’t have any hints. I know as much as you.

“If I could choose, though, it would be the most thrilling incident: a car falling off a bridge and someone suffering bizarre injuries that I could then treat. I think it would be really cool to show and portray that. But it is Coronation Street, so anything could happen, but I’m looking forward to it!

“I’m putting pressure on myself to make sure that I do it right and that everything is shown correctly,” she continues. “But I do understand that there are real paramedics watching Corrie, and sometimes we do get messages pointing out what would really happen. So, I want to make it as authentic as possible. That’s one of the reasons I’ve come here to get that insight, and hopefully, I can use that to have some input into my scenes.”