Tanisha Gorey may be battling depression and anxiety on the ITV soap as Asha Alahan, but she tells The Mirror how she’s found a way to relax off screen with the support of her boyfriend
18:35, 01 Oct 2025Updated 18:35, 01 Oct 2025
Tanisha Gorey likes to watch Disney films to relax(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
After filming some harrowing scenes on Coronation Street, Tanisha Gorey has found the perfect way to relax – chilling on the sofa with a Disney movie.
“It’s been weeks and weeks of 12-hour days, being sad and depressed and crying,” Tanisha says. “Sometimes it gets in your head and I really noticed that I was bringing it home with me.
“Because I was learning lines for the next day, there wasn’t a turn-off or escape from it. It is heavy, so my boyfriend pulls me out of it. “He’ll say: ‘Let’s watch something a bit light-hearted tonight.’
“I’m really embarrassed to admit it, but I’m a Disney channel girl, so two of the films I had to put on to cheer myself up were Hannah Montana: The Movie and High School Musical! Anything that’s light that reminds me of childhood and takes my mind off work.”
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Asha Alahan (L) hugs on-screen brother Aadi Alahan (R) and dad Dev Alahan centre.
Tanisha, 23, says her partner Lucas Whelan is even happy to watch the films with her. “He’s great,” she smiles. “He’s very supportive and very giving; he’s the most perfect person in my life. When I get home at 8 o’clock, my tea is cooked, the house is clean and the washing’s been done. He’s really supportive.”
Lucas woks in finance, but gives it his best shot when helping Tanisha with her lines. “He will be the other characters – Dev, Bernie, Nina and Summer,” she says. “He’s not an actor, so it’s hilarious – his job is the complete opposite of what I do, but I think he quite enjoys it!”
Viewers have seen Asha struggle with her mental health as she battles to cope with the stresses of her job as a paramedic. In a special one-off episode last month, she was subjected to vile racist abuse by a woman called Naomi during a traumatic shift.
Bumping into Naomi again triggered awful memories of the incident and it soon becomes clear just how badly Asha is affected. When her dad Dev discovers that she has lied about going back to work, she storms out before telling him she’s going to quit.
Asha Alahan, as played by Tanisha Gorey, is shaken when she comes face to face with Naomi, as played by Melissa Batchelor(Image: ITV/Danielle Baguley/Shutterstock)
She later changes her mind, but after returning, it’s clear she feels out of her depth and everything comes to a head as she helps dad Dev out in his corner shop.
Tanisha says: “She’s drinking wine behind the counter and she’s at peace with the decision she’s made to end her life. People often say that about people who have taken their own life – that they seemed their happiest before it happened, because their head isn’t torn anymore.
“She leaves the shop and heads down the street in tears, but she’s found and an ambulance is called. In hospital, she tells Dev that it all became too much and she took the booze and pills with the intention of killing herself.
“She tells him that she’s glad it didn’t work. But she’s not in the clear and when she comes home, we see her still suffering from depression. I think that’s important – to show it’s not always a quick fix. For people who are struggling, it shows it’s OK to ask for help again.”
Tanisha Gorey has played Asha for 17 years and is now a paramedic on Coronation Street(Image: ITV/Danielle Baguley/Shutterstock)
Tanisha says she is glad Coronation Street is exposing just how damaging racial abuse can be, having experienced it herself from a young age. Growing up in Oldham, Gtr Mancheser with white parents who ran a local pub, she says she attracted attention.
She recalls: “My sibling is white, my mum is white, my step-dad is white and my grandparents are white. My area was predominantly white, I grew up with casual racism. It was a very different childhood and there were always questions thrown at my family – ‘where has she come from, because she’s not white’. I’ve dealt with it, but sometimes it can be worse than others.”
This is Tanisha’s 17th year on the cobbles, having started when she was only six. She started out as a baby model then, when Coronation Street needed child actors to play Dev’s twins Asha and Aadi, she successfully auditioned. “I didn’t even know what Corrie was – and here I am, 17 years later,” she smiles.
Asha, played by Tanisha, once locked Max Platt in the annexe(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Tanisha has featured in several groundbreaking storylines, most notably Asha’s 2019 struggle with body image, when she used dangerous skin-lightening cream. “That was my favourite story,” she reflects. “I got a great response – people still talk to me about it.”
Adam Hussein, who played Asha’s twin brother Aadi, recently left the show, but Tanisha won’t be following him anytime soon. “Adam wanted to see the world and do other things, but for me my brain has to finish something before starting something new,” she says.
“I’m not ready to leave. I haven’t been through the mill like Gail Platt, where she’s been thrown into the canal and married a serial killer. There’s more I can do!”
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