User:Bluebolt94/Michelle Connor

Michelle Sinéad Connor is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Kym Marsh, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 3 April 2006. Marsh took maternity leave in January 2011.

2006—
The background to her character is complex and controversial including her teenage pregnancy and her problematic relationship with boyfriend, Dean. Michelle first appears in April 2006 when she auditions as a background singer for Vernon Tomlin (Ian Reddington)'s band. She is hired but Vernon takes a shine to her and makes a move, prompting her to leave the band. Michelle returns in August 2006 when she becomes the new barmaid at the Rovers. She is soon joined by her son Ryan Connor (Ben Thompson) and brothers Liam Connor (Rob James-Collier) and Paul Connor (Sean Gallagher). Steve McDonald falls for Michelle instantly when she begins working at the Rovers. Unfortunately his mother, Liz (Beverley Callard), does not like Michelle as Vernon clearly has a crush on her. He flirts with her but she is disgusted by his behaviour. As he blatantly propositions her, Michelle tricks him by falsely claiming to feel the same. Michelle humiliates Vernon in public but he twists the situation to make her seem the guilty party and Liz sacks Michelle. When the truth is exposed, Liz throws him out, although they eventually reconcile. Liz offers Michelle her job back and she returns to the Rovers. When Michelle's sister-in-law Carla Connor (Alison King) hint that Paul and Liam are hiding something from her, she confronts them both. Paul denies it but Liam eventually confesses to Michelle that on the night Dean died, Paul was driving, not Dean. She lashes out violently at her brothers on discovering their attempts to cover up Paul's crime. Paul later dies in hospital.

After a brief relationship with Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson), Michelle begins dating the manipulative Sonny Dhillon (Pal Aron), and they get engaged. Steve loves her and tries to split them up but Michelle's loyalties lie with Sonny. When Steve discovers that Sonny is bisexual, having seen him kiss Sean Tully (Antony Cotton), he tells Michelle but she refuses to believe him. Sonny and Sean deny their affair but when Michelle eventually discovers the truth, she is devastated. She confronts Sonny and calls off the engagement. Michelle ends her friendship with Sean following his betrayal, but they repair their friendship.

During December 2007, Ryan is followed repeatedly by Robert Horwell in a blue car. He appears constantly and scares Ryan. He wonders why the man is following him. He tells Michelle, who tells Steve and Liam, but at first the claims fall on deaf ears. On 9 December 2007, the car pulls up beside him and the driver begins to talk to him, using his name. Ryan runs into the Rovers and tells his mother and uncle. Liam runs outside but he escapes. He reappears on 17 December and is followed to a house in the suburbs. The Connors follow, determined to find out why this man is following Ryan. Michelle rings the doorbell and the door is answered by another 15-year-old, Alex Neeson (Dario Coates). She takes one look at Alex and bursts into tears. The teenager standing before her is the image of her deceased partner, Dean. Her worst fears are confirmed - Alex and Ryan were swapped accidentally just after birth. This means that Alex is Michelle's biological son, not Ryan. Alex later appears in The Kabin and tells Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden) that his mother would pay for the sweets he had bought. Norris asks who his mother is and Alex tells him his mother's name is Michelle Connor. Later that day, the news spreads about Ryan not being Michelle's son and Ryan is not amused when Amber Kalirai (Nikki Patel) comments on the news.

On 17 October 2008, Michelle's remaining brother, Liam, dies in a hit-and-run accident arranged by Tony Gordon (Gray O'Brien). Michelle is distraught, especially as her brother, Paul, had died just over a year before. She has the awful task of telling Ryan, as he and Liam were very close. Later on, she discovers that Liam had an affair with Carla as Sally Webster (Sally Dynevor) drunkenly reveals the truth to Maria. This infuriates her and she confides in Michelle and Tom Kerrigan (Philip McGinley). This confuses Michelle and Tom as they thought she might have got the wrong idea about the situation. Steve has a drunken one-night stand with Becky Granger (Katherine Kelly), following a row with Michelle. He doesn't tell Michelle but she becomes suspicious when Steve and his best friend Lloyd (Craig Charles) acts nervously around her. When Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard) tells Michelle that Steve gets on very well with Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson), she blames her, as she knows that Steve has had a one-night-stand. Michelle confronts Lloyd when Steve goes to Spain to visit his twin brother Andy (Nicholas Cochrane).

Under pressure from Michelle, Lloyd tells her that Steve is planning a surprise proposal. When Steve comes home, Lloyd persuades Michelle not to say anything but when he and Steve argue, Steve proposes for real. Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) objects when Lloyd tells her what has happened and she insists he tell Michelle the truth, unaware of Steve's proposal. He asks Michelle to play happy families in front of Amy (Amber Chadwick), attempting to worm his way back into her affections. Michelle later met an old boyfriend, JD. Planning to wind up Steve about his infidelity, she invites JD back to the Rovers but Steve gives Michelle an ultimatum - either they get back together or she and Ryan would have to move out. Steve and Michelle later reconcile.

In January 2009, Steve finally confesses to his affair with Becky and they split up. After the break-up Michelle quits her job at the Rovers, as she and Ryan move in with Maria. Later, Ryan is accused of raping Sian Powers (Sacha Parkinson), his girlfriend, by Sian's father. He is pinned against the wall but Peter intervenes and saves Ryan. Sian explains that her father had jumped to conclusions after finding condoms in her bag. When Michelle learns of this, she visits Peter at his flat and they talk. Peter then suggests they take things further, and they kiss passionately on the sofa.

In June 2009, Michelle leaves to do another tour with JD for six months. The night before Michelle leaves, she sleeps with Peter. Unfortunately Luke spots her leaving Peter's flat, wearing the same clothes as the previous day, and guesses what had happened. However, in July, it is confirmed Michelle will return early to Street due to a drummer injuring his wrist during a gig. Her return to the Street sparks the interest of both Luke and Peter, she makes it clear to Peter that she just wants to be friends; she seems more fond of Luke but in the end insists that she doesn't want commitment. Michelle and Ryan walk in on Maria and Tony kissing on the sofa and furiously storm out, however, she later apologises to Maria and helps her announce her relationship to Michelle's parents Helen Connor (Dearbhla Molloy) and Barry Connor (Frank Grimes). She returns to the tour and tells Luke that she'll be gone for a couple of more weeks.

She returns in early September and moves into the flat above the kebab shop and gets her old job back as barmaid at the Rovers. She starts up her flirtation with Luke again even though he is seeing the much younger, Rosie Webster (Helen Flanagan). This really annoys Rosie and her possessive ways to force Luke to dump her. At Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) and Tina McIntyre's (Michelle Keegan) house-warming party a day later, Rosie becomes extremely angry after seeing Michelle and Luke kissing. They proceed to have a catfight in the street, which causes Rosie to run home crying. Following Luke's departure, Michelle has a fling with builder Jake Harman (Kenny Doughty) before he leaves Weatherfield due to work commitments.

In 2010, Michelle catches the eye of Rovers colleague Ciaran McCarthy (Keith Duffy) who rentlessly pursues her, despite Michelle giving him the cold shoulder in an attempt to mask her true feelings towards him. When Ciaran announces his intentions to move to Scotland in search of a new job, Liz urges Michelle to tell Ciaran how she really feels about him. Although she is deeply upset that he is going, she fails to find the courage to tell him that she is in love with him. Ciaran subsequently departs, knowing that something deeper lies between the two of them, but is disappointed that Michelle will not acknowledge it. After Ryan departs for university in Glasgow, a lonely Michelle finally admits her true feelings and kisses Ciaran. After falling out with Liz McDonald, Michelle quits her job at the Rovers and is given a job as trainee assistant manager at Underworld by sister-in-law Carla. On the 24th January when Ciaran is leaving for a cruise, he persuades her to come with her, she accepts. They drive off into the distance.

Casting
The character of Michelle was first created as a cameo appearance for singer/actress Kym Marsh with the possibility of returning. She was later signed up to return on a more permanent basis. Of the decision to become a regular on the show, Marsh said: "If anybody had told me I'd end up starring in Coronation Street one day, I'd have laughed and told them to shut up. I've always said this would be my dream job. My mum has watched the show for years so I've grown up with it."

In June 2008, Marsh signed a contract for £100,000 after keen producers nearly doubled her salary in order to keep her as part of the show. Marsh stated she wanted to be on the show for a long time.

On 5 December 2008, Marsh announced that she and boyfriend Jamie Lomas were expecting a baby. She was due to go on maternity leave in June 2009 and return at the beginning of 2010. On 12 February 2009, Marsh's son was born 18 weeks early and died shortly after birth. On 27 February 2009, it was revealed that Marsh had returned to filming earlier in the week.

Later in Inside Soap Magazine, it was announced that a Coronation Street spokesperson had denied reports that Kym Marsh is leaving the show to go to Hollywood. Despite confirmation that her boyfriend Jamie Lomas is heading to LA, Kym will be staying put. With Kym confirming herself that she had just signed another one year contract. Of the decision to stay, Marsh said: "I am absolutely delighted about it. It's not necessarily always my decision. I mean, if the producers don't want you, you're out. I'm lucky the writers feel that they can still write for my character, Michelle Connor, after doing so for three years."

Character development
Michelle's character has a multi-faceted personality. of this actress Kim Marsh said: "The good thing about playing a character like her, she's got so many sides. She can be a bitch, she can be sensitive and she can be feisty too. She's just so well-rounded - there's plenty more mileage left in her." Marsh also discussed her character's personality during an interview with Inside Soap magazine stating that she thinks her character has a more devious side because she is part of the Connor family. Going on to say that her character has got quite a temper on her and that she enjoys portraying her tough side.

During a magazine interview Marsh spoke about the effect her relationship with Steve had on her character stating: "I'd like to see a lot more of the old, feisty Michelle. She became a bit too dependent on Steve and now she is an independent woman again I think she needs a bit of a challenge."

Of her character's relationship with Peter, Marsh stated that: "I think it might be interesting to see where things might go with Peter Barlow. Peter's quite a deep character. He's got a lot of layers, some good and some bad." Going on to comment about wanting her character to be more feisty unlike when she was with Steve explaining: "I think she is suited to Peter because there's bound to be drama. He's not exactly got the best track record."

Reception
As Michelle settled into the canvas, she became an increasingly large focus of storylines as well as airtime. In 2007, Kym Marsh won a number of awards for her work as Michelle. At the 2007 TV Quick and TV Choice Awards, she won the Best Soap Newcomer award for her portrayal of Michelle. She also won 'Best Newcomer' at The British Soap Awards. However, in 2008, as the character dominated more storylines, some fans began to tire of her as well as her behaviour. The baby-swap storyline, which Michelle was central to, was largely panned by both fans and critics, columnist Grace Dent said of the plot; "...It feels like something ripped from a copy of Pick Me Up magazine and read to me laboriously over 22 weeks". In September 2008, the Kym Marsh won the award for 'Best Dressed Soap Star' at the Inside Soap Awards.

In 2009 Ruth Deller of entertainment website Lowculture who runs a monthly feature of the most popular and unpopular soap opera characters, profiled Michelle, criticising her personality stating: "She’s continuing to get more and more entitled and unbearable, but we’re not sure the Coronation Street writers have noticed how much we all hate her yet…" Later that year Deller criticised Michelle again stating: "It really is the month for all our old hate figures to resurface. Michelle’s still apparently irresistible, and her hatefulness was amplified when the show paired her up with the equally detestable Jake. Do the writers realise we hate her? Are they deliberately torturing us? It’s beginning to look more and more the case…"