Samia Longchambon was told to be a "female version" of Tyrone Dobbs.
The \'Coronation Street\' actress first joined the soap two decades ago as Maria Connor, and she has revealed bosses wanted her to channel co-star Alan Halsall\'s performances when she was finding her feet on the cobbles.
Speaking on ITV\'s \'Lorraine\' on Wednesday (08.01.20), she said: "When I first joined 20 years ago, the brief for my character was that she was a female version of Tyrone.
"Hopefully she\'s changed a bit since then!"
The 37-year-old star admitted her character has made a lot of terrible decisions over the years, and there have been plenty of times she wanted to give Maria a talking to over her bad judgement.
She added: "I\'ve wanted to shake her for 20 years! One bad decision after another, isn\'t it?"
Things don\'t look to be improving, with Maria currently in a relationship with \'Corrie\' bad boy Gary Windass (Mikey North), and Samia suggested there are a few factors when it comes to her alter ego\'s misguided choices.
She explained: "She\'s very trusting - which you think she\'d have learnt by now - and she\'s naive, and I think she just wants to be loved. She wants that family unit that she\'s never had, really."
The soap star previously admitted she thinks female viewers are "crazy" for being so infatuated with calculated Gary.
She recently told BANG Showbiz: "That\'s what I find really strange, whenever we\'re out in public together women love him. I\'m like, \'Are you all crazy?\'
"They go mad for you. They\'re like, \'We love you,Gary.\' "
Mikey joked: "They\'re all of a certain generation, and that was my mum and my auntie to be fair."
