Coronation Street spoilers: Gavin to reveal his true identity to Steph - Oliver Farnworth interview

But she finds 'Gavin' about to do a runner and, following a confrontation, he tells her he's not who he's been saying he is. But will Steph believe him when he says that the ruse was just a joke that spiralled out of control? Actor Oliver Farnworth tells us more...

So who is the person who has been calling himself Gavin Rodwell?
He’s called Andy and he's a friend of the real Gavin Rodwell, who he shares a flat with. The real Gavin is off travelling and Andrew has intercepted this letter that Michael posted through the door. The tall and short of it is is that Andrew made a rash decision to pretend to be Gavin and before he knew it the situation had spiralled out of control. It had run away with itself and now Andrew is in far too deep.

So who is the real Gavin?
The real Gavin is a friend of Andy’s, his housemate, and he’s messed Andy around quite a bit in terms of relationships and girls...Andy has lost his job, he has bills mounting up, he’s at a real low point in his life. When the letter comes through, he cheekily decides to pretend to be Gavin. He thinks Gavin owes him one and maybe he can make a few quid out of it. But he falls really quickly into the pattern of Weatherfield life.

When he intercepted the letter, did he realise that Gavin didn't know his father?
I think he knew that Gavin didn’t have a father, that he has mentioned it before, but doesn’t really bring it up often because its not at the forefront of Gavin’s mind. I imagine because he was so young when his dad left it’s not a fresh memory for him. So they probably have had a chat in the pub about family before, but the conversation has perhaps stopped there because the real Gavin doesn’t know his father.

So how is Andy coping with the deception?
At the time, when Andy first decides to contact Michael, he doesn’t think about the consequences or the people involved at all. Its purely financially motivated and he doesn’t anticipate the repercussions of what he’s about to do. I think he quickly regrets that, even after the initial meeting. He realises how sincere and sorry Michael is for losing touch with his real son and he starts to realise how bad this is that he’s deceiving him in this way. Andy wants out of it almost straight away - after the first few days even. But it’s getting to a point where he feels like he can’t turn back.

And things have changed for him so much since he came to Weatherfiel - he’s met a girl, he has a job, he has a new family. All of a sudden his life has changed and it’s so much better than it was the day that letter was posted through the door. Plus I think Andy also feels as though he’s a support to Michael and as though he can’t leave him now. From the moment they went on the fishing trip right at the start, Andy does feel a general attachment to him. They enjoy one another’s company.

Duplicitous Andy (Oliver Farnworth) has to hide quickly when the real Gavin's ex-girlfriend turns up at the Bistro and talks to Steph (Tisha Merry)

What happens when Gavin's ex-girlfriend comes into the Bistro looking for him?
Andy completely panics and he does the only thing he thinks he can do, which is to hide. He really has to think on his feet, which he seems to be managing to do a lot all of the time. The ex-girlfriend tells Steph and Leanne that Gavin is a cheat. Luckily Steph covers for him and tells her that Gavin left a week ago and they haven’t seen him since. It’s a close shave and I think Andy feels like he’s slowly losing his nine lives…

He seems to be keeping his distance from Steph - does he not like her?
He’s wary about a growing attachment to somebody on the Street when it could potentially all blow up any day. He doesn’t want to lie to her so that’s why he’s been keeping his distance. He does really like her though, so when Gavin’s ex comes in and brandishes him a cheat, he really does think he might have blown it with Steph - because obviously she still thinks he’s Gavin!

Can you tell us what happens when Michael collapses?
Andy has been growing closer and closer to Michael and they’ve been confiding in each other a lot. Andy tells Michael how much he likes Steph and equally Michael tells Andy how he thinks Gail is going to dump him. At the engagement party, Michael takes Andy by surprise and asks him if he’ll be his best man when he marries Gail. Andy is so shocked and feels dreadful - it all becomes too much for him and he slips out of the party. After he’s left, Michael collapses and obviously ‘Gavin’ is nowhere to find.

So what happens when Steph arrives at his flat the next day?
Andy might have reached a point where he just cannot lie anymore and he doesn’t know how he’s going to get out of this one - Steph is at his door and she knows something is wrong. Ultimately Andy knows that sooner or later he will be found out and he really likes Steph and he feels like he needs to get it out there...

And how have you found it settling in at Corrie?
I was pretty nervous at first, but that disappeared after about ten minutes! Everyone is fantastic, really down to earth and helpful. We have such a laugh and there is always great camaraderie on set.

You can watch a 60-second rundown of next week's episodes of Coronation Street below: