Tina O'Brien with daughter Scarlett
Last seen on our screens fleeing Wetherfield, former Coronation Street actress and new mum Tina O'Brien is back fronting a new campaign for mothers and babies. We caught up with her to find out more.
Hi Tina. You’re fronting the new Fairy campaign – ‘Celebrating Our Little Ones’. What made you want to get involved?
It was just perfect for me because I’ve got a little girl, Scarlett, who’s five months old and the campaign is all about celebrating our little ones. For me that’s what I’m trying to do -spend all my moments with her and enjoy all the little times and all the things she does. The campaign is about explaining to mothers that you don’t need to just celebrate the milestones like birthday’s and Christmas. It should be more about the little things like the first time they smile because, before you know it, they’re all grown up. Fairy are doing this thing called The Big Toddle – a charity event for Barnado’s. It’s like a Fun Run. That’s happening all around the country. It’s nice for mothers with children under five to go down. It’s nothing taken seriously, it’s for fun but a great way of raising money for charity.
When’s that happening?
The launch is in May and it’s not going to be just one event. It’s going to be right through the summer so people can go onto the Barnado’s website and they can find out where their local Toddle is or they can make their own up as well.
Fairy has done a lot to get involved with helping young mums like yourself hasn’t it, what with already having launched the Fairy Godmother campaign last year?
Yes, it’s really good actually. People can access it on the internet and it is people like me talking about our different experiences with having a baby. It was a really, really nice thing to do because I think women with young babies, they like to look for people who also have young babies. They like to feel that there are other people in the same situation as them going through the same things. It’s a really great thing they’ve set up actually.
You mentioned little Scarlett. How are you finding motherhood so far?
Absolutely loving it.
Have you found that having a child changes you as a person?
Yeah, definitely, more so than I thought. I think for the better. It’s definitely made me slightly more mellow. I think it has kind of changed my priorities and what is important in my life which, at the moment is Scarlett.
How about Ryan, (Corrie's Jason Grimshaw) how’s he finding fatherhood?
He’s a brilliant dad. Absolutely fantastic.
You left Corrie in 2007. Apart from having Scarlett, what else have you been up to since then?
While I was pregnant I did a job for the ITV show Blue Murder so that should be coming out soon. By then I was quite heavily pregnant so now I’m just concentrating on being a mum.
Do you think we’ll ever see a return to Sarah Lou?
I feel really lucky that the door has been left open for me, never say never, but it’s obviously down to what they want as well but the hours are very long on Coronation Street and at the moment I’m just happy doing what I’m doing. For eight years I worked without having a break and I’m not saying having a baby is easy but I just want to enjoy it and cherish every moment of it.
Tina O’Brien is supporting the launch of new Fairy Non Bio Gel and the ‘Celebrating Our Little Ones’ campaign.
FemaleFirst: Fiona Haran
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