Peter Ash sought advice from Jack P. Shepherd ahead of filming his historic sex abuse storyline on ‘Coronation Street’.
The former ‘Footballers’ Wives’ actor – who plays Paul Foreman – spoke to Jack, whose ‘Corrie’ character David Platt was raped by evil Josh Tucker (Ryan Clayton), to help him with the hard-hitting plot, and he has also been in touch with Duncan Craig of Survivors Manchester, which aims to create a safe space for male survivors of sexual abuse and rape.
Peter said: "I have been speaking to Duncan and he has been great. His experience was really similar to Paul’s so it was important for me to talk about all the conflicting emotions and not accepting or realising it was abuse until later on in life.
"I have also spoken to Jack P. Shepherd about how he found the male rape storyline and he told me about the increase in calls to Survivors Manchester off the back it which is incredible. It’s an important storyline and I want to get it right."
In coming scenes, Paul will come to realise he was groomed by his and Gemma Winter’s (Dolly-Rose Campbell) step-father Kel (Joseph Alessi), after initially thinking he was in a consensual relationship with Kel during his younger years.And Peter hopes the "horrific" plot will raise awareness of such abuse.
He added: "People carry this through their lives and not even realise, they blame themselves until they realise that is was abuse and then that unleashes a whole new raft of emotions.
"When you are younger you do feel like you are older and in control and you knew what you were doing but that’s not always the case.
"As horrific as the subject matter is, I want this storyline to raise awareness. It is important because it happens and so many people are affected by this.
"’Coronation Street’ tackles issue-based storylines really well and as truthfully as possible.
"It’s important for people to see it play out on television as people may see things and situations that they recognise and seek help."
Peter Ash’s Jack P Shepherd advice over ‘horrific’ plot
