McAlpine said that her emotional scenes with Hawley (John Stape) were very draining and very hard work. She told "The Mirror": "It's been very draining. Not emotionally, because I never take my work home with me, but genuinely physically exhausting. It's tiring having to cry continuously and I take a long time to recover from that. My face goes all red and my eyes sting for ages afterwards. I'm not a good crier!". She added: "I've always been a huge Corrie fan. Being a Northern girl it was always on in my living room. And even today, I love sitting down and catching up with what's going on. This is my dream job."