When we arrive to meet Coronation Street actor Sam Aston and his wife Briony, it isn’t just the couple who are smitten with their newborn daughter.
The couple’s 22-month-old son Sonny is super excited with the family’s new addition and can’t wait to introduce us.
As he points to his baby sister, Sonny tells us her name – Daisy.
“We’ve always liked it,” says 29-year-old Sam. “It was one of the only names we both agreed on.”
Briony, 27, adds: “Once we knew we were having a girl, we kept going back to it, so then halfway through the pregnancy we were like, ‘Daisy it is!’ and I bought all the personalised stuff.”
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She explains: “She’s Daisy Josephine. Josephine is a nod to Sam’s brother Joe and my grandad Joe.
"Daisy is also the French name for Marguerite and my mum’s mum is called Margaret, so it was a way to have both grandparents in there.”
We can see straight away how besotted the pair are with Daisy, who arrived nine days late at 11.59pm on 10 May following a three-hour labour at their home in Lancashire.
“She’s a dream,” yoga teacher Briony gushes.
“It was euphoric,” she says of the birth. “It was exactly what I wanted. I would do that every day of my life if I could! Usually, a few days after giving birth your hormones level out and you start feeling the baby blues, but this time I still feel like I’m on a high.”
“It was amazing,” adds Sam, who has played Chesney Brown on the cobbles since 2003.
“We’re very lucky. It all happened so fast. We’d just had some tea and then I put the TV on to watch some football, but then all of a sudden I heard Briony upstairs...”
“I was mooing!” she laughs.
“I was in the shower but I had to get out as the birthing pool was filling up so slowly. Sam and my dad, who came to watch Sonny, were just running around with kettles filling up the pool.”
“The water pressure in our house isn’t the best,” Sam explains. “I could tell Briony’s contractions were coming thick and fast, so I called the midwife and was like, ‘Quick, you need to get here now!’”
“And Meg, my doula, was lovely,” Beth says. “She pressed my back and applied pressure where it was needed and she was really positive. Her doing that freed up time for Sam to just be with me.
"The midwife actually just sat hiding behind the birthing pool because I didn’t really want anyone around, but it was nice she was there just in case. It was so undisturbed and natural.”
“It was basically pitch black in the room. Briony also made a playlist but when I put it on I was told to f*****g turn it off,” Sam laughs.
“I did want all twinkly lights and music, but then when it got to it I just wanted it to be really silent and I just had a few candles on,” explains Briony, who is the co-owner of The Happy Baby Studio.
“I just wanted to hear the sound of the water and listening to my breathing was relaxing enough. I didn’t need anything else and I didn’t have any pain relief.
“The moment she was born I just remember saying, ‘We did it!’ I was so proud of me and Daisy. Then a few minutes later we did put a song on. Sam had his arm around me and we were playing My Girl. It was such a lovely moment.”
It’s a very different scene to the arrival of their boy Sonny, who was born six weeks prematurely and spent nine days in hospital following his birth after developing jaundice and needing help with his feeding.
“It was the complete other end of the spectrum,” Briony says. “I felt safer and in control, whereas last time I didn’t feel in control of anything. I had loads of doctors staring at me and it was a blur.”
“It was chalk and cheese,” Sam agrees. “This time Briony was on all fours in the water and I could see Daisy’s head and her little lips were pouting. It was amazing. With Sonny I was more teary as there was just relief that he was OK, whereas this time it was just excitement.
“Daisy is perfect and she’s as cute as a button. I got to cut her umbilical cord and I put a little personalised cord tie on the end of it,” he reveals.
Daisy is clearly a member of the Aston family – she’s been blessed with a full head of red hair, just like her dad and her big brother.
“The bright red hair definitely gives it away,” giggles Briony. “We have a photo of Sam as a baby and she looks exactly like him. They’re identical.”
“I can even see it myself,” Sam adds with a laugh.
“But she weighed 9lbs 1.5oz, which I still can’t believe because me and Sam aren’t big or tall,” Briony says. “She was big.”
The couple are under no illusion that two under two is going to be tough, and they’re the first to admit things have been somewhat “chaotic”.
“It’s full-on from the moment we wake up,” says Sam. “It’s like having a job. Sonny has us up at 5am and there’s no time to think as the day is just gone.
“My current life actually goes very well with my storyline and Chesney having quads,” he adds. “If you see me looking knackered on the screen it’s because I am! A lot of people go to work for a break from their kids but I’ve got five kids at work.”
“It’s a lot easier when we’re a team,” Briony says. “It’s good fun juggling two together, but two under two by yourself is really hard work. I’ve been lucky that Sam has had some quiet time at work so he’s been able to be around a lot.”
But Sam confesses that there have been times when he’s felt like a “spare part”, as Briony is cluster feeding Daisy.
“A lot of the time when I’m holding her she just wants Briony and she can settle her straight away” he says. "She’s definitely a mummy’s girl and sometimes I’m a bit like, ‘Oh!’ But when I do get 10 minutes to cuddle her I really cherish it.
“I think it’s something a lot of dad’s feel if you’re not bottle feeding,” he continues. ”But it has also meant I’ve spent a lot of time playing with Sonny and bonding with him.
"I don’t want to wish time away but when she’s a bit older I’ll be able to do more with her as she won’t be as dependent on Briony. There’s only so much I can do right now.”
Sam has received plenty of well-wishes and support from his Corrie castmates since the birth.
“When Daisy was born, Corrie sent some lovely flowers and Dolly-Rose [Campbell]’s mum knitted her a little cardigan. She also did a jumper for Sonny when he was born,” he explains.
The actor will celebrate 20 years on the cobbles next year after joining the ITV soap when he was just nine years old.
“I can’t believe it’s been that long,” he says. “It’s all I’ve ever known. I’ve been through so many stages of my life on the show, from the end of primary school and all through my teenage years to getting married and having children.”
But despite being one of the show’s longest running cast members, Sam says he doesn’t ever take his job for granted.
“I feel very lucky,” he says. “I get a year contract at a time, so every time I get that phone call I have a little toast with Briony. I don’t take it for granted and I never thought I’d still be here almost 20 years later.”
It’s clear Sam has relished every minute of his time on the soap, but does he have a standout storyline?
“As a kid, doing stuff with Schmeichel [a Great Dane who belonged to Chesney] was amazing,” he says. “All I ever wanted was a dog and I hounded my mum and dad for one, so then to get a dog on Corrie, I absolutely loved it.
“But I’ve also loved my recent storylines with Gemma, Bernie, Joseph and the quads. It’s manic but fun. Me and Dolly [who plays Gemma Winter] have a great laugh. I’ve enjoyed seeing Chesney settling down.”
It’s not surprising Sam has built some strong friendships on the show, and he tells us that as well as his on-screen family, some of his other co-stars are also like real family to him.
“Jennie [McAlpine] plays my sister, but she really is like a big sister to me,” he says. “We’ve always been close and I can go to her for anything and call her any time. I’m also close with Andy [Whyment], Alan [Halsall] and Jimmi [Harkishin] and I share a dressing room with Mikey [North].
“We have such a laugh. When you’re a kid there’s a special children’s dressing room, then when you turn 16 you get to share with another adult, so I’ve shared with Mikey ever since then. We’re both obsessed with Gordon Ramsay so we just sit and watch funny videos of him.”
With such a big milestone coming up, we can’t help wondering if Sam can see himself in Weatherfield for another 20 years.
“I can’t see myself doing anything else right now,” he says. “I’m really happy there. It’s been a hell of a ride so far and hopefully it continues.”
*Coronation Street is on ITV at 8pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
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