Coronation Street star Julia Goulding has opened up about what it was like filming the dramatic scenes set to be at the centre of the long-running show’s first-ever crossover with Emmerdale.

For the first time ever, both of the ITV soaps will join forces for an epic TV event, dubbed Corriedale, that you won’t be able to see anywhere else until after it has aired on the network at 8pm on Monday, January 5.

It was in February last year that ITV announced that from January 2026, Corrie and Emmerdale will move to a new scheduling pattern on ITV1, introducing a ‘soap power hour’ from Monday to Friday, with 30-minute Emmerdale episodes at 8pm, followed by 30-minute Coronation Street episodes at 8.30pm.

To mark the change, producers, scriptwriters and production teams set about conceiving an ingenious way of linking the two universes for one night only, with characters then returning to the soaps they are renowned for inhabiting in Manchester and Yorkshire, but with the horror that unfolds linking them forever.

The hour-long special episode will centre around a horror multi-vehicle smash, with characters from both shows left calling for help in the darkness as the emergency services arrive at the scene on a country road near the village of Hotten.

While how things play out is being kept a secret, a 40-strong cast list for the historic TV event was previously confirmed and includes Julia, who Corrie fans best know for playing Shona Platt, having made her debut in the role back in 2016.

Sharing what she thought when she found out she’d be involved, Julia told the Manchester Evening News: “Well, massive privilege to be a part of it because obviously not everybody got to be. So, when we found out about it, I was hopeful and then absolutely buzzing when I found out that I was going to be in it.”

Filming took place over several weeks, during a series of nighttime shoots. When asked whether it was difficult to film, Julia admitted: “You know what, it wasn’t that bad! We had five weeks of night shoots, so I think I did about three of them, me and Jack [P Shepherd]…

“You know what? It’s quite pleasant. Because once you’re on that time of six at night or six in the morning, because everybody’s with you doing it, it doesn’t really feel like it’s a night shoot. Yeah, we had moments of tiredness and then you’d just jam a load of Haribo in your mouth and you’re fine.

“And obviously tea [which Jack famously showed his love for during Celebrity Big Brother last year]. We were double-bagging and everything by the end. It was really nice, it was ace working with all the Emmerdale lot. It just felt like being at home, even though we weren’t in our own environment. It was nice.”

As we already know, among those in danger in the crash are David and a pregnant Shona, who has already been told that her unborn child, a baby girl, has a tumour and that she’d have to undergo a complicated, high-risk surgery if she wanted to carry the pregnancy to full term.

In one of the trailers, we see that an injured David and Shona are tended to at the roadside by Emmerdale paramedic Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant). But carrying out the scenes while pretending to be pregnant did come with its challenges. “Wearing that pregnancy suit wasn’t fun, because it’s very heavy and then I’ve got these big fake breasts as well,” Julia said.

“I also got a bad neck. I’ve gotta admit, I got a really bad neck. I’ve been in the same costume for five weeks because it was a wedding outfit, which I am allowed to say. It was a dress with a baby bump up there, got a tight dress and I got heels on. Not the most practical, some people were in trainers and jeans, which I envied hugely.

“But yeah, I’d say that was probably the only bad thing. I’ll tell you something, the caterers we had were f***ing amazing. I can’t say that. Absolutely amazing! Because every night we had all these cakes on offer and it was wonderful.”

When quizzed on what she thinks the viewer reaction will be to the crossover, the soap star admitted: “This is a world we’ve never been in before. I think even if you only watch one of the soaps and not the other, I don’t think you’ll feel alienated from it because of the way they’ve done it. Everybody’s story has its own thread…

“So yeah, I really think the viewers will enjoy it and hopefully dip into a show they’ve never watched before, if they don’t watch it already.” Of her own interest, Julia added: “I can’t wait to find out what’s happening with Charity [Dingle]. Honestly, I’m like, Emma [Atkins, who plays her], tell me everything!’ She’s like, ‘I know nothing…’ and I’m like, ‘No, you need to tell me!’”