Maria Connor (also Sutherland) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by Samia Longchambon.

However, their relationship quickly dissolves as Tyrone succumbs to his feelings for Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine), leading a heartbroken Maria to end their engagement.

She and her friend Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) later move into the flat above the salon, having become good friends on a trip to Blackpool, where Maria saved Fiz from being arrested after Maria's brother Kirk Sutherland (Andrew Whyment), who had followed them on the trip with Fiz, Tyrone and Jason, broke into an empty caravan to find a place to stay without telling the others.

There is an uneasy truce between the former rivals for Tyrone's affection, especially since Fiz is now seeing Kirk and Maria is unhappy about her brother spending so much time in the flat, but the pair soon become close friends.

Maria has a casual relationship with Vikram Desai (Chris Bisson) and is pleased when he takes her on holiday abroad, unaware he is merely using her as cover for drug smuggling to pay off his debts.

Maria's sloppy work habits soon found her on the wrong side of her boss Shelley Unwin's (Sally Lindsay) mother Bev (Susie Blake).

She takes a dislike to fellow stylist, Candice, who took her ex-boyfriend Jason from her and who Audrey moves into the flat with her and Fiz, although they eventually become friends.

She "borrows" £200 from the petty cash at the salon to go on holiday with her latest fling, Dave, and Tyrone lends her the money to pay it back before Audrey finds out.

Kirk accidentally allows a pedigree bulldog to be gelded and has to sell the business to pay compensation to the owner, leaving himself and Maria with little profit.

Maria starts dating property developer Chris Pitcher but is disappointed to learn he considers her beneath him and is only interested in a casual relationship.

The secret lovers are discovered by Carla's fiancée Tony Gordon (Gray O'Brien) who has Liam murdered in a hit and run attack.

When Maria finds Tony mourning at Liam's grave on her wedding anniversary, they call a truce and build a close friendship.

Maria discovers the truth about Tony when he suffers a heart attack and confesses to Roy Cropper (David Neilson) that he had Liam murdered.

Maria later begins fawning over gay friend; Marcus Dent (Charlie Condou) and he moves in with her, after splitting from his then boyfriend Sean Tully (Antony Cotton).

In late-2013, Marcus and Maria decide that they want to buy a house together, away from the street, so that there are things like boating lakes and playgrounds for Liam.

Maria returns in April 2016 and it becomes obvious she is keeping a secret, whilst at the salon she takes a phone call from a man called Pablo, who she has married, Audrey later spots them kissing after he turns up outside her flat however Maria later reveals she only married Pablo to keep him in the country as he has a boyfriend living in the UK.

After lying saying she cannot go to the wedding, Maria sneaks to the hotel instead and puts a picture of the fake scans in the guests gift bags, however after being locked in the bathroom by Toyah, Maria manages to be let out by hotel staff and storms into the ceremony exposing Eva's fake pregnancy to Aidan and the rest of the wedding guests.

Aidan commits suicide in May 2018 and Maria is devastated, especially after how close he became with Liam in his final weeks, including giving him his watch to look after.

She is approached by Audrey's competitor, Claudia Colby (Rula Lenska), who offers Maria the chance to invest in and run her own salon which she quickly agrees to.

Maria struggles to raise the funds for the investment and is surprised when Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) offers her the money in return for a share of the profits.

Auditions were held for the role in 2000, and actress Samia Ghadie beat several rivals, including singers Kimberley Walsh (of Girls Aloud) and Suzanne Shaw (of Hear'Say), to win the part.

She laps up the male attention that her good looks bring her but playing footloose and fancy-free with the men in her life has gained her a bit of a reputation.

"[2] Jenny Cockle, writing for the Sunday Mirror, has similarly observed that during the character's duration on the show, Maria has evolved from a "dowdy kennel maid" to a "sexy siren".

"[10] Asked how she felt about Maria's romance with Tony Gordon, the man responsible for Liam's death, Smith commented: "It's freaked me out to be honest!

Lorraine Kelly revealed the team had worked out Maria's "bodycount" over her 20 year span on the cobbles was 31 men, causing Longchambon to comment "My eyes are watering looking at that!

"[14] Discussing the scenes in which Maria give birth to a stillborn son, Smith described the research she put into filming the storyline to ensure authenticity: "It was so important that I got it right and it wasn't too overdramatic.

"[16] Smith also gave the insight that filming the storyline affected her on a personal level, leading to the discovery her own mother had gone through the same situation: "Because of my mum, I wanted to do the scenes well but they left me feeling exhausted and drained.

"[16] In an interview for the Inside Soap Year book 2009, a point was made about the fact nothing nice seems to happen to the character and asked Samia about it, she replied "I'd love Maria to be happy for a change!

The incident leaves Maria with a nasty injury when she falls and hits her head as the intruder flees, but there's a coincidence when Caz soon shows up and rescues her.

"[28] Following the death of Charlie Stubbs in January 2007, she deemed Maria to be the Street's "local loose-knickered simpleton",[29] and has also referred to her as being "such a tit",[30] and "a pretty, perky, easily beddable dimwit".