Soap star marks major milestone as Maria Connor and shares what has kept her on the show so long
Samia Longchambon says she’s proud to have played Coronation Street “strong woman” Maria for 25 years – and even answers to her character name now. She’s been a Weatherfield staple playing the unlucky-in-love hairdresser since she was 17.
Only coming in on a three-month contract, Samia, 42, looks back at her “wild times” as Maria and what’s kept her on the ITV soap so long. “If someone had said at the start that I’d be around this long, I would have laughed,” she said. “I thought maybe I’ll be a jobbing actress, or go to university, or become a director when I’m older.
READ MORE: Coronation Street character to make dramatic return – and it’s bad news for one teen
“Playing Maria for 25 years is a surprise, but I think Corrie can be quite addictive once you get here. The people make it such a nice atmosphere to be a part of.”
Samia says she’s played Maria for so long she’s taken on the moniker too. “Maria’s my second name now,” she laughed. “I literally answer to ‘Maria’ as easily as I do to my own name. I get it – we look alike, after all! And she’s trying to be a good mum, as am I.”
But she says that’s where she hopes their similarities end. “She’s had quite a colourful past!” explains Samia. “Maria has had some wild times over the years. Now she seems to have settled down a bit with Gary. I don’t know if that’s going to be forever, because you just never know in Corrie.
“I feel like I’m quite proud of her, how she’s overcome some massive obstacles in her life, and she still seems to have kept her sanity throughout it all. I’m not sure I would have been able to do that. I think she’s one of Corrie’s ‘strong women’ now.”
Away from Corrie, Samia is married to Dancing On Ice skater Sylvain, 44, and mum of two to Freya, 15, and Yves, nine. Meeting her future husband on the ITV skating show in 2012, she insists it wasn’t an instant connection.
“It wasn’t love at first skate for me and Sylvain,” she said. “I was too busy learning to move around on the ice to be thinking about anything like that! Things between us didn’t start until months after we first met.”
Losing her dad in 2009, who had French as his second language, Samia feels he had a hand in her finding love.
“I think my dad sent Sylvain to me,” she explained to Prima magazine. “He loved France, and his sister Samia, who I’m named after, lives about an hour away from where Sylvain grew up in Lyon. Once we got to know each other, I was like, ‘Oh, this is weird.’ There were so many common threads with him that I was like, ‘I feel like my dad just sent you.’”
Continuing her skating now, Samia says she’s much better at it now the pressure is off. And would be up for another reality show to push her out of her comfort zone.
“When it comes to other TV shows, I say ‘never say never’ to anything,” she said. “I’ve spent a lot of my life being scared because of anxiety. A challenge is always good.”
Samia has been open about her struggles with anxiety – sharing her story with her followers. But says yoga and meditation have helped her cope better. She explained: “I can ruminate over things for a long time, and have it ruin weeks of my life, to the point where I can’t eat because of anxiety – so when it’s bad, I do what I can to stay busy. I did a CBT [cognitive behavioural therapy] course, which also helped. Sometimes, it does get the better of you, but you just have to accept it and think, ‘This too shall pass.’”
Being in the public eye has opened Samia up to some negative comments, and says they sometimes get the better of her. “I’ve had to deal with loads of trolling over the years, it’s usually when Maria’s caught up in something that’s not great and people forget that I’m not this character! It’s not nice – this industry can be hard if you’re not thick-skinned, and I’m not,” said the actress.
“So I have to discipline myself with social media – reading mean comments can feel like picking a scab; you don’t want to read it, but then you do end up reading it, and it ruins your day. Historically, there’s been a couple of times I have responded to trolls. Weirdly, though, I find that most people back down and apologise when you call them out. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,’ they might say. And I’ll think, ‘Well, I’m a human with feelings, and it hurts – but it’s fine, let’s move on.’”
The July 2025 issue of Prima is now on sale or read here.
Follow Mirror Celebs on Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .