Nicola Thorp says her ‘Coronation Street’ co-star Sair Khan has gone on ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ to show how different she is to her character Alya Nazir.
The 30-year-old actress became good friends with Sair after she landed her role as Nicola Rubinstein on the ITV soap in 2017 and she hopes viewers of the gruelling reality series are seeing just how great a person Sair is.
In an interview with New! magazine, Nicola said of her pal: "She’s never done anything like this before and I think it’s an opportunity for people to get to know Sair rather than her character, because she’s so different to Alya. She also joked about the fact that if she comes out of the jungle and people know how to pronounce her name she’ll be happy."
Nicola and Sair lived together for a time and although she was worried about how her friend would cope with the lack of food, she has been impressed by how her fellow actress has handled the rice and beans meals so far.
She added: "She’s so loyal and strong and she’s really funny. I’ve lived with her and she’s the girl you can go to in a crisis. She’s always level-headed and puts other people before herself. She loves to eat. That’s not a bad habit, but I’m worried about her in the jungle and having access to food. She’ll miss home comforts. She gets very hangry!"
And Nicola – who is coming back to ‘Corrie’ – has enjoyed watching Sair make new friends in the Australian jungle and keep her cool whilst under pressure.
She said: "She’s so calm, but she speaks her mind and that’s a good thing. She’d only ever clash with someone if they were being mean to another person. Because Sair is so compassionate and caring, she’s a good influence on Anne Hegerty."
Sair Khan wants to show real self in the jungle
