Dee-Dee talks to Joel in the solicitor office in Corrie
Dee-Dee and Joel recently started dating (Picture: ITV)

Coronation Street’s Channique Sterling-Brown has responded to comments from trolls about her latest storyline.

Channique’s character, Dee-Dee Bailey, recently started dating a duty solicitor called Joel.

Played by Hollyoaks’ Calum Lill, Joel is enjoying getting to know Dee-Dee and vice versa, but the romance hasn’t been the focus for some Corrie viewers.

Speaking to Digital Spy, Channique said that she ‘saw some comments about us [Dee-Dee and Joel] being an interracial couple’.

‘Almost like, “an interracial couple on the Street – God forbid”. I just thought it’s so bizarre, because the relationship had nothing to do with race. It really is just about two people who have found each other, and are really in that loved-up, gross honeymoon phase.’

Editorial use only Mandatory Credit: Photo by ITV/REX/Shutterstock (13387527bs) Coronation Street - Ep 10755 & Ep 10756 Wednesday 28th September 2022 The Baileys are thrilled as Dee-Dee Bailey, as played by Channique Sterling-Brown, arrives home from America. 'Coronation Street' TV Show, Episodes 10741-10758, UK - Sep 2022 Coronation Street, is a British ITV long running television soap opera set in the fictional North of England town of Weatherfield, near Manchester. Created by Tony Warren, the series was first broadcast on December 9th, 1960, and was produced by ITV Granada.
Dee-Dee made her arrival last year (Picture: ITV)

She continued: ‘As a Black woman in the industry, I think we do put constraints on ourselves on how we’re going to be presented, especially romantically. So whether we are the sexual interest or just the friend-zoned woman or whatever, I feel like we’re often hypersexualised or under-sexualised as Black female characters.’

‘I hate when people are like, “you’re playing the race card”. No one’s making it about race. People just see ‘other’ and they assume that’s what it is. But it’s literally not about that at all.’

Reflecting on what’s ahead for Dee-Dee as this romance continues to develop, Channique recently told us: ‘Calum Lill, who plays Joel, he’s wonderful and we’re having a lot of fun getting to know each other and getting to know the characters.

Stephen with two faces in Coronation Street promo shot
Stephen’s downfall is upon us (Picture: ITV)

‘I think it’s really exciting, we’re going to see Dee-Dee in a bit of a new light, and I think that’s really fun as an actor to explore, hopefully the audience will enjoy it and it’s nice to have a bit of happiness and love really!’

Elsewhere, next week in Corrie will see Stephen Reid’s (Todd Boyce) reign of terror come to an end.

After killing Leo, Teddy and Rufus, Stephen will take centre stage during Super Soap Week as he plans an escape from Weatherfield, but who will try and stand in his way?

MORE : 36 Coronation Street pictures reveal killer Stephen’s final scenes as he finally gets what’s coming to him in huge week

MORE : Coronation Street’s Peter Ash addresses whether only gay actors should play gay characters