Coronation Street's Sair Khan praises 'brilliant' Ian Bartholomew for abuse storyline

Sair Khan says Ian Bartholomew "has done a wonderful job" with Coronation Street\'s coercive control storyline.

The 32-year-old actress - who plays Alya Nazir on the cobbles - has opened up about Ian\'s role as Geoff Metcalfe, and the character\'s abuse of her on-screen grandmother Yasmeen (Shelley King).

Appearing on ITV\'s \'This Morning\' on Tuesday (28.07.20), she said: "He\'s so lovely in real life!

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"We were having a laugh on set just yesterday - it\'s just me constantly praising him actually, because I think he\'s doing such a wonderful job with this storyline.

"He\'s doing a lot to highlight the issue as well behind the scenes. He\'s brilliant, I have to admit!"

Sair also discussed the impact Paula Wilcox\'s character Elaine - Geoff\'s ex-wife - will have on the harrowing storyline, and whether her arrival will make a difference.

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She added: "It looks like it\'s going to change everything, but like you say with coercive control, it\'s really hard to fight against someone who\'s so insistent on peddling their lies and their version of the truth.

"But yeah, Alya is definitely a dog with a bone and she\'s not gonna rest until the truth is out there."

Meanwhile, Sair addressed the cast and crew\'s return to the cobbles set amid the coronavirus pandemic, and heaped praise on the safety measures in place for filming.

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She explained: "It\'s a very different way of working. I have to commend \'Coronation Street\' because they\'ve gone above and beyond. We\'ve got one way systems, we\'re doing temperature checks when we come into the building.

"There\'s just not many of us here anymore and I miss all our hair and makeup team, our production teams, our storyliners. So, it feels a little bit lonely at the moment. Those people are what make the lifeblood of the show, they\'re our community spirit."