The actress is preparing for her character Dee-Dee Bailey to become a first-time mum
Coronation Street star Channique Sterling-Brown looked amazing as she was seen sporting a fake baby bump for filming. The actor is preparing for her character Dee-Dee Bailey to become a first-time mum.
Dee-Dee had quite a turbulent end to 2024 having discovered her fiancé was a serial groomer. As fans of the ITV soap know, Joel Deering arrived onto the cobbles in September 2023 as a charming solicitor who Dee-Dee soon fell head over heels in love with. But under his smooth exterior Joel was hiding a dark secret – a penchant for younger, underprivileged girls – including Lauren Bolton.
When the truth came out, he quickly found himself as public enemy number one as Dee-Dee teamed up with DS Lisa Swain to bring him down once and for all. He disappeared before justice could be done and it was later presumed he had taken his own life.
But, after his body washed up in a lake and was found by a bunch of teenagers, it was confirmed he had been killed with a heavy weapon before entering the water.
Several Weatherfield residents were put in the frame – Dee-Dee, her father Ed, her uncle Ronnie, Mason Radcliffe, Lisa, Carla Connor, DC Kit Green and finally Max Turner and Lauren. It was then revealed that it was Lauren who dealt the final blow that killed Joel as he attacked her boyfriend Max in a train track confrontation.
It was in November that it was revealed Dee-Dee was pregnant with Joel’s baby, and a flashback confirmed he knew before his death. The solicitor then battled over whether to keep the baby or not due to it being Joel’s child. However, with Frankie, Joel’s son with Lauren, became sick, she decided to keep the baby.
Now, Channique has taken to social media to reveal she’s filming with a fake pregnancy belly bump as they film up to 10 weeks in advance. Posing in her dressing room, the soap star was sporting a green figure-hugging dress and she filmed herself turning to the side to show the fake bump. “Hump day,” she captioned the Instagram Story post on Wednesday (January 29) with the peace sign emoji.
It comes after Channique roped in her former co-star Calum Lill, who played Joel, into filming a brilliant social media video in which she and Calum acted out the High School Musical 2 scene in which Gabriella and Troy sing ‘Gotta Go My Own Way’ as she decided to quit her job Lava Springs and break-up with Troy.
At one point in the clip, Channique rubs her stomach as a caption appears on screen reading: “Baby Deering the 3rd,” which at the time confirmed Dee-Dee would go through with her pregnancy, while the two actors gave their performances their all. At the end of the video, the actress shared a video which showed Calum breaking into tears after they wrapped on his final scenes as she asked him how he felt.
She turned the camera on herself as Calum struggled to speak and tears could be seen falling down her face. But she quipped: “I thought this day would never come, I’ve actually been wishing for it,” making them both laugh.
