Coronation Street's Mollie Gallagher addresses future as beloved Nina Lucas

Along with her professional skating partner Sylvain Longchambon, the 25-year-old is competing in the 15th series of the ITV program.
ITV viewers tuned in this week to watch a second group of famous people make their Dancing on Ice debuts. One of these was Mollie Gallagher, a soap opera star, who impressed the judges with her opening performance. She spoke to Express.co.uk about her character’s future in Coronation Street as she balances both endeavors despite the fact that training for the show is known for being rigorous.

The Dancing on Ice star gained fame for her role as Nina Lucas in the ITV soap opera after joining the cast in 2019 as Roy Cropper’s long-lost niece (played by David Neilson).

The actress has been a part of terrifying storylines while working on Coronation Street, such as being the victim of a hate crime, which earned her an NTA in 2021 for Best Serial Drama Performance.

After it was revealed she would be competing in the new season of Dancing on Ice, many fans worried that her beloved Weatherfield character would leave the soap.

During an interview with thesuns.info and other media outlets, the 25-year-old was questioned about whether Nina would remain in the soap opera or not.

She replied: “I’ve still been filming!”

A Dancing on Ice representative also confirmed Nina’s character isn’t being written out of the soap while she’s in the competition.

Touching on the actress’s hectic filming schedule, her fellow Dancing on Ice star Carley Stenson commented: “I don’t know how Mollie’s doing it!

“She does 12-hour days shooting and then trying to skate, finding a rink that’s available to get.”

Mollie acknowledged that she enjoys staying busy and said it can be difficult to find a rink when she is filming for the soap up in the North.

Numerous soap opera stars have competed on Dancing on Ice over the years, including Sally Dynevor, who did so last year.

When asked about the advice she’s received from her co-stars, Mollie said that everyone has been very encouraging.

“They just all say it’s the best experience ever, and it really is,” she said. Additionally, have fun with it; there’s no need to worry. Do your best, and everything will work out well.

After performing her first routine on Sunday night, the actress received a total score of 26.5 from the four judges, placing her alongside Darren Herriott in third place on the leaderboard from the previous weekend.

However, Carley Stenson and her partner Mark Hanretty came out on top with a stellar 34 out of a possible 40.

Carley said to hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield after learning the results: “Oh my gosh, I’m having the best time, thank you!”

Christopher Dean, an Olympic figure skater, gushed about the actress, saying, “I wrote down, excellent wonderful, lovely and sublime.”