Matt and Bhavna Limbachia on BBC Breakfast talking Corrie and religious homophobia

Coronation Street’s Bhavna Limbachia and Matt were invited in to talk about the hard-hitting Rana + Kate storyline currently in the soap, and its connection to the work being done by Naz and Matt Foundation.

Rana Nazir, the soap’s first openly gay Muslim character (played by Bhavna), falls madly in love with Kate and to protect themselves they have to keep their relationship a secret.

Sadly Rana’s parents find out and they react with an understated anger. They will not tolerate their daughter being gay. Their first attempt to keep the relationship a secret is bribery and emotional blackmail. Rana’s parents then take it a step further and deceive her. They attempt to kidnap Rana to take her away to Pakistan for ‘her own safety’.

During the research of her character, Bhavna came across the story of my darling Naz and how his parents reacted when they found out about his sexuality.

What happened to Naz really impacted Bhavna.

To keep her character real she decided to base much of her Rana’s emotional state on what Naz might have been going through before he sadly took his own life.

Bhavna has since been a huge supporter of Naz and Matt Foundation and has been raising the profile of our charity to the public.

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About Naz and Matt Foundation

Our mission is to never let religion, any religion, come in the way of the unconditional love between parents and their children.
We tackle homophobia triggered by religion or culture to help parents accept their children.

Donate to help support our mission