Sam Aston has been a key member on Coronation Street ever since he joined the show.
The soap star was just 10 years old when he was cast in the long-running programme as Chesney Brown in 2003. Sam had famously appeared in a Warburtons advert before he joined the Cobbles and immediately made an impression on Weatherfield fans as he was awarded Best Newcomer at the National Television Awards in 2004.
Sam is now aged 29 and continues to be a key part of the show. Chesney is once again at the centre of the action next week as he will tie the knot with Gemma Winter.
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Corrie released first look snaps of Gemma's beautiful bright orange wedding dress ahead of the big day on Monday's episode. Away from the Cobbles, Sam is already happily married to his childhood sweetheart, Briony Gardner.
The soap star tied the knot at a lavish ceremony in 2019 and they share two children. However, Sam has previously spoken about how his life could have been on a completely different path as the two drifted apart as teenagers.
He told the Sunday Mirror: "Briony and I met when I was about 15 or 16. We talked through MSN messenger and then went on a date. We got together, but we were very young. I ended it – which she always likes to bring up.
"We lived quite far from each other and because we were so young, neither of us drove. We went to different schools and at weekends had different hobbies. I was in Corrie too, so I had filming. We just didn’t see enough of each other. We split, but there was nothing bitter about it.”
Fortunately for Sam, the pair were reunited by chance at acting school three or four years later. He added: "Three or four years later we were both helping out at the same drama workshop, Carol Godby’s acting school, which is where I started as a youngster.
“I was teaching and Briony was in the room next door. I think she might have given me a funny look when I first walked in, but we soon got past that and straight away we got talking. We went for a meal that night at a country pub and that was it. We’ve been together ever since.”
Briony concerned her followers back in 2019 when she revealed Sam had rushed her to hospital after she was suffering with "crippling" stomach pain. According to The Mirror, she said: "Last Sunday me and Sam sat in bed with a cup of tea binge watching Unbelievable with both doggies under the covers and we discussed having the perfect, cosy Sunday.
"Then I started to get crippling pains in my back and belly. Long story short: Sam took me to hospital where I was given morphine for what we think was kidney stones and that ruined our Sunday dream so we're living and loving it this week instead.
"PS. before the meds, the nurse basically turned into a yoga teacher and taught me how to breathe, because somehow despite teaching breath-work about 17 times a week I somehow forgot how to breathe."
Briony recovered and the couple are happier than ever as they welcomed their second child, Daisy, into the world last year. However, Sam admitted how the extra family responsibilities make him increasingly more conscious about his status on the show.
Although Chesney is considered a Corrie staple, Sam surprisingly claimed he is concerned the character could one day be written out of the show. He told Mirror Online: "I worry about it every year, 100%.
"I’ve had that thought more so as an adult because I have more responsibilities now. I have two children and I’ve got a mortgage. People say to me ‘you are part of the furniture, you’ll be here for ever’ but I don’t see it like that.
"I just take it one year at a time. “I’m lucky to be here. I’ve never taken it for granted or rested on my laurels. No character is bigger than the show, so I’m always very grateful when I get that call asking me to stay."
Sam admitted he has no plans to quit the Cobbles and aims to emulate show legend Ken Barlow, who is played by William Roache. He said: "People have watched me grow up and I can imagine Chesney being an old man and pottering off to the Rovers. It would be an honour.”
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