Corrie star Samia Longchambon forced to use language app to learn how to pronounce her new surname
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CORONATION Street star Samia Longchambon has been forced to use a language app to teach her how to pronounce her new foreign surname – despite being married to French husband Sylvian for six months.
The actress, who plays jailbird Maria Connor in the soap, revealed she has been doing daily tutorials on her phone after having trouble understanding the professional skater’s language.
Samia said: “I’m still getting used to saying my new surname - you don’t pronounce the ‘g’ apparently.
“I still can’t say it. I’ve got an app on my phone to try and help, so I do 15 minutes a day on that to learn.
“I get e-mails to remind me that I haven’t done it that day, so I just sit down and try and learn a bit at a time.
She added to Women & Lifestyle mag: “I’m still learning the accent too. I can only speak a little bit.”
Manchester-born Samia, 34 – previously called Ghadie – tied the knot with Sylvian after three years together in August 2016 at Gary Barlow’s old home Delamere Manor in Cheshire.
They found love after being paired together on Series 8 of Dancing on Ice in 2013.
He dumped his then-girlfriend Hollyoaks star Jennifer Metcalf, who he also found love with on the show, on Christmas Day after growing feelings for Samia.
The couple had their first child, Yves Joseph, in September 2015 – named in tribute to Sylvian’s brother and Samia’s late father.
She is already mum to daughter Freya from her first marriage to property developer Matthew Smith.
Samia has been fitting in her language lessons around her gruelling filming schedule as hairdresser Maria, who is set to return to the cobbles next week with an electronic tag on her ankle after serving just two months of her one-year prison term for good behaviour.
Maria was jailed last year after arranging a sham marriage to her Argentinian friend Pablo.