Coronation Street's Samia Longchambon has revealed her character will become embroiled in the horrors of the online world.
The soap star has played Maria Windass on the show since 2000. Her on-screen counterpart has embarked on a political career and she put green issues at the top of her agenda.
The environmentally friendly action will have unintended consequences later this week as the extra workload will spark bin workers to go on strike. Maria will deliver a passionate speech on recycling in a bid to get the workers back on her side.
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However, Samia revealed the character is embarrassed when her words are chopped up and rearranged to a rap tune in a video posted online. She said: "Basically, Maria's like this rap star, but she doesn't want to be. She feels really embarrassed and humiliated by it.
"It knocks her confidence as her heart is in the right place with it all and she feels like everyone is just laughing at her." The character will be subjected to further abuse in another video when her head is placed on a naked woman to make it look like she’s in a porn film.
Samia added: "It's awful. She's been hiding the first video from Liam, not wanting him to see it because she's embarrassed and then she gets a call while in the street, in the middle of a todo with Gemma and Sally over the bin strike, saying Liam's been in a fight. It's not until she gets home and he shows her the video.
"She's absolutely mortified... one that it exists and two that it's her son that showed it to her and that he's actually seen this video and thinks that it's her because it really looks like her. These deep fakes actually look like the person. She's mortified thinking people will think she's been doing pornography."
The abuse will continue to get worse when Maria receives death threats. The character will host a press conference to expose the horrific behaviour of online trolls.
She said: "It takes a lot of courage for her to get to the press conference because she's obviously terrified. Gary said he won't let anything happen to her but he can't be with her 24/7. So she comes to the conclusion that she can't hide away. She's got to fight this fight and she remembers the reason she went into it."
Gary identifies the refuse team leader, Jimmy, is behind the abuse after Maria is heckled at her press conference. He launches an attack against Jimmy, which prompts Maria to consider quitting the council.
She later decides against sharing a family photo on social media - and Samia branded the storyline as "sad". She added: "It is sad that she's let the trolls win, in a way."
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