Coronation Street’s Daniel Osbourne and Daisy Midgeley are set for a romantic Christmas after a cancer scare leads to a surprise proposal.
The health scare for Daisy, played by Charlotte Jordan, becomes the latest in a series of ups and downs for the barmaid and Daniel, actor Rob Mallard, whose ex-wife Sinead died from cervical cancer.
Mallard said: “It is a massively triggering event because of what happened with Sinead.
“If it is a diagnosis of cancer, because he knows what’s coming down the line, that’s much more difficult to face than it was the first time.”
Jordan said his reaction is “heartbreaking” for her character, but leads to the couple re-assessing what is important in life.
She said: “I think it’s just put what’s really important into perspective.
“She’s going to be focused on Daniel and family… and her Instagram. What’s important to her, for sure.”
Mallard said “old romantic” Daniel will eventually realise the “depth” of his feelings and decide to pop the question to his girlfriend.
He said: “It is a risk, but Daniel does move at warp speed.”
The proposal is set to come as a “pleasant surprise” for Daisy, who was “never going to say no to Daniel”, Jordan said.
She added: “It’s quite speedy isn’t it, let’s be real. I don’t think she has any idea.”
Mallard said, despite the couple’s differences, Ken Barlow’s son hopes for a long-term future together.
He said: “He’s not one of these people that goes this will do for now.
“He very much thinks about what is it going to be like together when we’re old.
“But, he is a Barlow, Not by name but by nature he is definitely a Barlow.
“If he met a woman really close to him in terms of interests, especially if things weren’t going well with him and Daisy, who knows?”
In the new year, Daisy’s mother, played by Amy Robbins, will appear on the cobbles.
Jordan said their “fractured” and “distant” relationship may give viewers an understanding of her character’s personality.
She said: “It will help them understand why she is spiky sometimes and why she does put up a front because she’s had a lot of things going on in her life really.”