Bounty

Faye Mingo from Bounty interviews Kym Marsh

1. What did your kids say about you winning the award?
They were really pleased but quite matter of fact and said "Well you are the best mum."

2. Who looks after your kids while you're filming?
David and Emily are at school and if I can't do the drop off because of filming commitments my dad will take them and if I can't make pick up both my parents will collect them. They live just round the corner from us so it works well. They also see a lot of their Dad so they're well supported.

3. What do they think of your job?
They love it. We've always watched Corrie as a family, in fact I can remember my mum bathing me in the kitchen in front of Corrie. David watches me in Corrie if I've got a major storyline but Emily watches it regularly.

4. How did they react when you first found fame?
Emily was that bit younger so doesn't remember any different but David's quite shy. I remember taking them to a premiere of Cinderella and arriving at the red carpet. David just legged it in whilst I stopped for a few photos, but the next minute I turned round to see little Emily posing for the crowd. She loved it. Fame was also a real surprise to me though. I'd only ever dreamed of being in entertainment and never imagined I'd be in Britain's biggest soap especially when I look back to how I queued for Pop Stars auditions outside the Granada Studios where I work now on Corrie.

5. Do David and Emily like your character 'Michelle'?
Yes they really like her and think she's funny. Although David did say to me the other night that he thinks she's having too many boyfriends - he's quite a mummy's boy, but really protective of me and I enjoy that.

6. Do you think she's a good mum?
Yes I do. Michelle had her son Ryan when she was 15 so like me had a baby young. Although I had my own son David at 18 and Emily at 21 and we've had some tough times, I haven't had as many struggles as her but I think that if I hadn't been a young mum it would be hard to appear 'motherly' on-screen to Ryan - we may have just come across more as mates. Although, me and Ben are mates outside of work. He plays in a band and I often go along to his gigs.

7. You're set to snog a school boy in a Christmas plot - how did you feel about this as a mum and how have you prepared your children?
He snogs her! Basically a school boy develops a crush on me and misreads the situation. When I first heard about it I thought 'you can't do that to me!' It's been filmed now and my children know about it. They're fine - I know David gets ribbed a bit at school but laughs when his mates say his mum's fit. Thankfully, me and my children are very open with one another. I don't find it difficult to find the balance between being mum and friend and we talk about things that some kids may be embarrassed to talk about with their parents.

8. Who do you socialise with on the cast of Corrie?
Off set I mostly see Bev Callard (who play Liz the Landlady of the Rovers), Ali King (who plays Carla) and Samia Smith (who plays young mum Maria) and who recently became a mum in real life to baby Freya. The cast of Corrie are a friendly bunch and although we have our own dressing rooms there's a big Green Room where most of hang out together.

9. You've had an emotionally tough year - who have you relied on for support?
My family and my partner Jamie Lomas have been there for me and my children.

10. Have you made plans for Christmas?
Well David and Emily will be at their Dad's for Christmas but with me for New Year as we always alternate having the children and it works well for all of us. My son David is insisting we have a party so I better get organizing.