Coronation Street star Samia Longchambon has been flooded with supportive messages from her castmates as she marked 24 years since her debut.
The actress is famed for playing Maria Windass - nee Sutherland and Connor - in the ITV soap. Samia has starred in the long-running show since 2000 after beating Girls Aloud's Kimberley Walsh and Hear'Say star Suzanne Shaw to land the role.
Maria, whose brother Kirk is still a Weatherfield stalwart, was originally seen as a kennel maid at Sutherland's Kennels. Soon, she agreed to marry Tyrone Dobbs when he proposed atop Blackpool Tower.
In her almost a quarter of a century in Corrie, Samia has only taken two breaks from the soap, in late 2009 and in 2015, both on maternity leave.
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