Faith is right up Corrie star’s street

CHANNIQUE STERLING-BROWN talks about life on Coronation Street, praying for online trolls and the relationship with Jesus that changed her life

Interview by Claire Brine

‘WHEN I think about being in Coronation Street, I still have a bit of a “pinch me” moment,’ says actress Channique Sterling-Brown, who joined the long-running ITV soap last year as part of the Bailey family.

‘Apart from a few adverts, this is my first big TV job – and it has been such a blessing. I love playing Dee-Dee because she is very much “what you see is what you get”. She’s compassionate. Unapologetically herself. A bit ditzy, but also super smart. I love how she loves people.’

Despite her sunny outlook and the ability to make friends quickly, Dee-Dee has faced some difficult situations since arriving on the cobbles. Earlier this year she tried to support her friend Paul (played by Peter Ash) as he struggled to accept his diagnosis of motor neurone disease. She also agreed to keep a secret – albeit reluctantly – from her boss, Adam (Sam Robertson), after she discovered that his wife was cheating on him with Damon (Ciaran Griffiths).

‘At work, it has been such a horrible position for Dee-Dee to be in,’ reflects Channique. ‘She didn’t want to overstep the mark by saying too much, but nor did she want to see anyone getting hurt. From the start, I think she felt that keeping her mouth shut might protect Adam. But we will just have to see what happens if or when he finds out.’

While Dee-Dee’s professional position could soon be under threat, Channique has been relishing every exciting storyline coming her way. Several times in our conversation, she speaks of the gratitude she feels for landing a role on such a wellloved soap. It’s a thankfulness, she tells me, that she directs towards God.

‘I sent off my self-tape for my first

Corrie audition a few weeks after I was baptised at church, and I tried to put my trust in God’s timing,’ she says. ‘As much as I wanted the job, I knew that I wanted God’s will for my life even more.

‘Then, when I got the role, I was reminded of the quote: “Your talent is your gift from God. What you do with it is your gift to God.” Those words encouraged me, because they helped me to see that, if an acting career is what God wants for my life, then who am I to say that I’m not good enough for it? If God has been so kind as to bless me with this role, then it’s my duty to do my best and honour him in it.’

Ever since childhood, Channique has been interested in faith and aware of God’s presence in her life.

‘My dad is a Muslim and my mum was raised a Christian,’ she explains. ‘So I always knew that God was real. When I was a teenager, I used to go to church with my grandma and enjoyed it. But back then I didn’t know the fullness of what I could get from faith. I guess God was slowly working away at me, though, because I always believed in him and knew that there had to be more.

‘When I was in my first year at drama school, my friend and I decided that we needed to find a church to go to. We hadn’t been at all since starting our courses, so we were feeling a bit out of touch. We knew that there was a church

Turn to page 10 f on our street, so we agreed that we’d go on Sunday morning. When Sunday morning came, we overslept and missed it. But I told her: “We said we’d go to church – so we need to go!” I did a quick Google search and found out that The Salvation Army in Preston had a service due to start at 11am. I knew we could still make it – so off we went. I kept going to the Army for the next three years.’

It sounds silly – I’d always known about Jesus. But I began to understand the truth about him.

‘Today, Jesus is my Lord and my God. One thing that always held me back from pursuing a relationship with God was that I always thought we had to be perfect. But then I realised that his Son, Jesus, calls us as we are and loves us as we are. But he also calls us to more.

My faith is at the centre of my life

As well as attending services on a Sunday, Channique joined a small midweek group that was aimed at young people who wanted to get together, have a chat and explore their faith a bit more deeply.

‘It was great to have that community of students and young people at The Salvation Army,’ she says. ‘On Sundays, I loved the brass band – I thought it was brilliant. And it was good to hear a different perspective on the gospel, even though I’d say that my faith journey didn’t really pick up until I was in my 20s. I became a Christian during the Covid lockdown.’

As the global Covid crisis unfolded, Channique linked up with a Manchester church that was running an Alpha course, an 11-week series of sessions in which participants explore questions such as ‘Who was Jesus?’ and ‘Why did he die?’

‘Doing the course helped all those final bits of my faith click into place,’ she says. ‘It was like my eyes were opened.

‘I have found so much peace and joy in my faith. I know that I can’t do anything to earn this unconditional love – which has been freely given to me – so why wouldn’t I want to share that gift with the world? Jesus has helped me to understand the true meaning of love.’

Though not everyone at work shares Channique’s Christian beliefs, she tells me that the cast and crew at Coronation Street are often interested when she talks about what she has been up to at church.

‘Everyone there knows that I’m a Christian,’ she says. ‘I’m always sat in the make-up chair, talking about my weekend and what I did at church on Sunday, and people are always happy to chat about it. And in conversations, it’s part of my natural dialogue to come out with an “Amen!” –which colleagues seem to accept.

‘As a Christian, I don’t believe my role is to preach at people, but I know that I am called to live authentically, so I welcome any conversation about faith, however big or small. We’ve had some great chats about it in the green room. I’ve certainly never faced any negativity at Corrie for my beliefs.’

However, there have been work-related challenges that Channique has faced publicly since joining the soap. Online, she has been subjected to racist abuse.

‘I was with my mum the other weekend, and we were watching a scene I’d done on YouTube,’ she says. ‘We were laughing about it, and then these comments popped up on the side of the screen, which were super unkind and unnecessary. It was really hard, because my mum was upset by them. But I told her that I was fine, because I know that my presence on the show shouldn’t cause offence. Those kinds of comments don’t faze me, or even challenge my faith. In fact, they solidify it.

‘I feel sorry for the people who make racist comments like that. I pray that their brokenness is healed, because it must be hard carrying around that much hurt.’

Showing compassion towards others has always been important to Channique. She volunteers at her church’s weekly after-school club, where she spends time with kids as they do their homework and then is ‘usually beaten at Connect 4’. Away from church, she also volunteers for the Samaritans, listening to people who need someone to talk to.

‘I’ve been a listening volunteer for a few years now, and it is a good use of my time,’ she says. ‘I like it because the service is anonymous, so I’ll probably never speak to the same caller twice, but I think it addresses the core of what it is to be human. We all need to know that someone cares about us. The Samaritans offers support with no strings attached.

‘Although I became a Samaritan before I went on my big journey of faith, I find that it’s a role which aligns with my beliefs. It’s about being there for the last, the lost and the least. I’m there to listen to people and give them emotional support. I consider it a privilege.’

Since joining Coronation Street, Channique has spoken publicly about various charities and causes close to her heart, hoping to use her platform to help raise awareness and support for people in need. On social media, she also talks frequently about the value she finds in her faith. After landing the role of DeeDee, she posted on Instagram ‘Look at what God did’. Her bio at the top of her page also declares: ‘Jesus is King.’

‘My faith is at the centre of my life, so there’s no way I can cover it up,’ she says. ‘I hope, with my platform at Corrie, that I’ll be given the opportunity to glorify God for as long as he calls me. I want to be faithful to him. Sometimes, following that calling feels nerve-racking, because one day God may decide to take all of this away, and I’d have to be willing to lay it down. But I know that God’s plan for me is best – so why would I ever want anything else?’

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