Coronation Street’s Julia Goulding has said it is hard to put aside her emotions after shooting scenes in the current male rape storyline.

David Platt (Jack P Shepherd) has been struggling to cope since he was raped by Josh Tucker (Ryan Clayton) in dramatic scenes in the ITV soap.

Goulding plays David’s girlfriend Shona Ramsey, who is out for justice after David tells her that he was assaulted.

She said: “Because of the nature of it, my own feelings have come in to a lot of this and I find myself getting frustrated because Ryan Clayton is doing such a fantastic job playing Josh!

“The anger, frustration and injustice is very easy to play and really easy to portray because it is such a horrific subject.

“Getting myself into that worked up stage isn’t too difficult but shaking off is a little bit harder.”

Goulding said it hits Shona “like a brick wall” when David opens up about his ordeal.

Jack P Shepherd
Jack P Shepherd (PA)

She said of filming the scenes: “They were really emotional.

“Jack and I really get on and we usually have a laugh when the cameras aren’t rolling but it was a very sombre environment.

“The crew were amazing and gave us space and time because with such raw emotion you need something that is very real.”

Shona ends up confronting Josh, who claims it was consensual.

Goulding said: “Shona is a very determined person anyway so she takes away from it that justice has to be served to him.

“She becomes a bit of, what I call, Sherlock Shona because she is determined to dig up some dirt on Josh and prove that potentially he has done it before or she is waiting for him to slip up.”

Coronation Street continues on ITV.