Grease monkey

With summer now upon us, it’s only fitting that things are hotting up on the famous cobbles. A secret romance between Kevin Webster and his best mate’s wife, Molly, has been brewing and it’s sure to keep viewers glued to the screen in the coming weeks.

‘‘It started off a bit of a slow-burner,’’ says Michael Le Vell, 44, who plays garage mechanic Kevin. ‘‘But it’s something uncontrollable for both parties.’’ If you’ve seen recent episodes, you’ll know Kevin’s feelings for Molly Dobbs, played by Vicky Binns, have grown ever since he started helping her with her fun run training.

Molly, meanwhile, is feeling ever more neglected by her husband, Tyrone, who is more interested in Jack Duckworth’s love life than his own. She has begun to reciprocate Kevin’s feelings and the sexual tension is reaching fever pitch.

‘‘It’s one of those things where Kevin really tries his hardest not to get involved,’’ says Michael, laughing. ‘‘Obviously his hardest ain’t good enough because he does succumb in the end.

‘‘But I don’t think it is just lust. I think he really does have strong feelings for her.

Obviously, it’s a shock to both characters to find themselves in this situation, but hey ho, you live with it, don’t you?’’ Michael is something of a soap veteran, having made his debut as Kevin back in 1983, when viewers first saw him trying to hitch-hike.

‘‘I fixed Alf Roberts’s car, so he had to give me a lift,’’ says Michael, recalling that first episode. ‘‘Alf introduced me to Brian Tilsley with, ‘This lad’s a good mechanic if you ever need anyone’ and before I knew it I was working for Brian Tilsley, which was great.’’ At the time, Michael thought he might be in the soap for only a few weeks.

‘‘The way it worked was the producers said, ‘Do you want to come in and do 12 episodes?’ So I went in, filmed 12 episodes, and then went off to do pantomime.

While I was doing that they called and said, ‘Do you want to come back and do three months?’ Before long I’m in my 26th year. Time flies.’’ he says.

Over the years, Michael’s enjoyed huge storylines with some of the soap’s biggest characters, including Hilda Ogden and Bet Lynch, and he admits these scenes are the ones he holds most dear.

Married for 23 years to Janette Beverley, with whom he has two children, Finley and Amelia, Michael must feel grateful his off-screen marriage has been smoother than the roller-coaster relationship he’s endured with on-screen wife Sally, played by Sally Whittaker.

And he thinks Sally’s antics are the reason he will be spared judgment over the affair with Molly when he’s out and about in public.

‘‘Everyone wants me to get my own back on Sally, to be honest,’’ he says.

‘‘Everywhere I go they say, ‘Oh that Sally, what are you doing with her?’ I think the public will be on my side.’’ With the story set to run for as long as a year, Michael says viewers can expect lots of twists and turns along the way.

‘‘It’s not as straightforward as a fling or a full-blown affair,’’ he says. ‘‘It goes a lot deeper than that. I can’t give too much away, but there are lots of little offshoots to this story, which is very exciting.’’ Michael’s focus on this storyline may be the reason he admits he hasn’t given much thought to the fact that Coronation Street will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.

‘‘It’s exciting times, and I’m sure they’ll have some very exciting things planned, but what they are we don’t know yet,” he says.

ASKED why he thinks Corrie has enjoyed such popularity over the years, he replies: ‘‘I think it’s just the quality of the writing and the comedy in it and the drama. It’s just got a nice mixture of characters and people you live with a long time, and all the people that come in week in, week out in the Rovers and the corner shop. It’s just one of those iconic series on television that I’m proud to be a part of.’’ Before he heads back to the studio for more filming, there’s just time to ask him one very important question: Can we ever expect to see the return of the moustache?

‘‘A lot of people have been trying to talk me into that one,’’ he says. ‘‘I keep saying I might give it a go for a few episodes, maybe for the 50th anniversary. Bring it back in celebration.’’

■ Coronation Street is on ITV1. Molly and Kevin realise their true feelings in episodes tonight and Monday.