pressures

Coronation Street star Amy Robbins has revealed that, for decades, she felt pressure to be “something that she’s not” in order to achieve success as a woman in the industry

Amy Robbins has revealed that she felt pressure to be “something that she’s not” in order to achieve success as a woman in the industry.

The actress, 55 The actress, 55, began her TV career in the late 1990s with small roles in Casualty and Where The Heart is before going on to an eight-year stint as Dr Jill Weatherill in The Royal. She then went on to enjoy two star turns as Mrs Johnstone the West End hit Blood Brothers before going on to land recurring roles in EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks.

However, the actress admits it wasn’t until she was cast as Christina Boyd in Coronation Street in 2023 that she really felt the pressure was off.

In an exclusive chat with The Mirror, she said: “I feel like I couldn’t [be myself]. As woman—I’m sure not everybody would say the same thing, but for me, you’re always trying to be something slightly that you’re not in order for people to approve of you and give you a job.

“So you always think you need to be slimmer, or you need to be posher, or you need to be younger, or you need to be lighter, or you need to be anything just not quite what you are.

“So to get to Corrie, I feel like Corrie sort of embraces womanhood and all of its flaws and celebrates it. And I find that a really incredible feeling. First time in my life, I’m playing a character where I believe that Christina cares about what she looks like, but I don’t watch myself and go, ‘Oh, look at me.’ It’s like, yeah, she’s colourful, and she’s a bit nutty, and great! Brilliant.”

As Christina, Amy, who is from a showbiz dynasty as the sister of Spitting Image star Kate Robbins and the aunt of Emily Atack, is currently at the heart of a tough storyline where she has just discovered that the daughter she gave away as a baby has been murdered.

But in finding some light in her role, Amy is thrilled that her character has struck up a relationship with undertaker George Shuttleworth (Tony Maudsley) and really hopes that the couple go the distance as a couple.

Asked if she would like to see George and Christina become the next Jack and Vera Duckworth, she said: “Oh, absolutely! I really hope so! I would love that. Tony [Maudsley] and I talk all the time about our fantasy wedding for them.

“Where would it be? Would it be in the Rovers? All the funny situations you could have—they could end up getting married in a crematorium or something weird!

“I think they’re in it for the long haul, those two, yeah. And it’s helped by the fact that Tony and I have known each other for so many years; it feels very comfortable.”

Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X.

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Amid escalating tensions with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, United States President Donald Trump has increased pressure on the Eastern European country to make a deal that would end the war with Russia.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his efforts to blame the Ukrainian president for holding up peace efforts that would bring the years-long conflict to a close.

“Zelenskyy has to want to settle this war, and if he doesn’t, I think it’s going to be a very bad thing,” Trump said as he talked about Russia having an “unlimited” supply of people to send in the fight.

Moments later, the US president referenced a contentious Oval Office meeting he held with Zelenskyy in February 2025, shortly after returning to power.

Zelenskyy, Trump said, could have made a “better deal” then. “He’s going to have to want to make a deal, because I don’t think his people are going to stand for it any longer,” Trump told reporters.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president met US special envoy Steve Witkoff and European leaders in Oslo, Norway, to discuss ending Russia’s war.

In a post on social media after the meeting concluded, Zelenskyy said, without providing specifics, that his country has “some clear ideas on how to get to peace”.

“We are united with our European partners in this effort, and we want the Americans to take these ideas to the Russians,” Zelenskyy wrote. “One of the important ideas is to move to a potential trilateral meeting of the leaders to address the issues that only the leaders can do.”

The Ukrainian leader added that Witkoff would head to Russia on Wednesday, where peace discussions are expected to continue.

“Let’s see what Putin has to say,” Zelenskyy said.

When asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin should meet Zelenskyy, Trump said there was “tremendous” hatred between the two leaders.

“It’s hard for them to be in the same room,” Trump said. “I don’t care how it’s done.”

Starlink controversy

Trump’s remarks come as the White House continues to squeeze Ukraine in order to force the country to cut a deal with Russia.

Last week, Ukrainian officials reported slowdowns with Starshield, the military-grade version of the Starlink satellite system, run by the aerospace company SpaceX.

Ukraine relies on the technology for communications and intelligence to prevent Russian attacks.

It is unclear who ordered restrictions that limit Ukraine’s access to Starshield. SpaceX CEO and Trump ally Elon Musk pointed a finger at the White House.

“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” he wrote on October 14.

The news agency Reuters also reported that the order came from inside the White House, citing two US officials and a Western official.

But a report in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday claimed US officials had blamed Musk himself for the slowdown, saying the SpaceX CEO ordered it last week. Trump and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have both denied that the government directed the restrictions, with Hegseth pushing responsibility towards SpaceX.

Building ties with Putin

Trump, meanwhile, has sought to ease the historically tense relations between Russia and the US.

In August 2025, Trump invited Putin to Alaska, the Russian leader’s first visit to US soil in a decade.

More recently, Trump has expressed openness this month to meeting with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as part of a trilateral discussion on denuclearisation.

Trump also announced this month that he struck a deal to obtain diesel from Russia, marking a stunning reversal of years of US pressure on Moscow’s economy.

The US president also waived new economic restrictions that would have been imposed under the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, a bipartisan law he signed one month earlier, in honour of a late senator.

It would have imposed sanctions on Russian officials, banks and tankers, as well as tariffs on countries that purchase Russian oil.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the decision on Tuesday, saying the law allowed the waiver through a provision embedded in the legislation.

“The president chose to use a national security waiver to not immediately implement those [sanctions and restrictions], because he recognises that these things have to be looked at in their totality,” Rubio said in an interview with India’s News18.

Rubio argued that Trump was engaged in a “balancing act” in deciding the extent of US-imposed economic restrictions and how they could impact the rest of the world.

“When you do that pressure, sometimes it spills over and has a negative impact on other countries,” Rubio said.