Coronation Street star Mikey North has spoken out after his character Gary Windass murdered gangster Rick Neelan (Greg Wood) on Wednesday 19th June in a fight to the death between the bad boy rivals.

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Factory roof saboteur Gary faced off against the evil loan shark in a violent showdown in the woods. Rick was hell-bent on killing the beleaguered builder after he betrayed him, but the wild Windass gained the upper hand and knocked him out.

Fleeing the scene to beg ex-girlfriend Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien) for another chance in an emotional exchange, bruising her arms as he grabbed her in desperation, Gary returned to the woods after dark and buried Rick's body in a shallow grave.

Gary now has the blood of two people on his hands, having caused the tragic death of Rana Habeeb as a result of the Underworld roof collapse – he had deliberately tampered with the structure, hoping it would force Carla Connor (Alison King) to pay him a fortune to fix it.

Corrie's latest killer has now teased what's in store as Gary tries to cover his tracks…

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Why did Gary kill Rick?
It was self-defence. Rick came at him with a shovel and it was literally a fight to the death, and Gary has got to fight to survive. Luckily, he managed to grab a rock in time and he sorted him out!

How does it feel for Gary to realise he is capable of actually murdering someone?
I think it is quite hard for him to take at first. He thought he was at rock bottom before – after the factory collapse and Rana – but this now makes it even worse. This will definitely have a knock-on effect for Gary, but I am sure he will pick himself up from here…

Does he feel guilty?
It takes a while to sink in but he starts to feel the guilt more and more as it hits home. But Rick was the one trying to kill Gary, so he doesn’t really have a leg to stand on.

How will fans react to Gary becoming the new Corrie villain after this development?
I don’t know to be honest, we will have to see. I like watching Rick myself, I think he’s a really good baddie, so I was sad to see him go. But hopefully the audience can understand why Gary did it.

What was your reaction to Gary committing murder?
In a way I enjoy playing the big storylines, so being given this is just another exciting challenge for me. And I’m sure there will be more to come…

How does killing Rick differ from being responsible for Rana's death?
Well I suppose Gary didn’t know he would end up being responsible for Rana dying as he didn’t know the factory would eventually collapse. And with this incident ending in Rick's death, it has definitely had an effect on Gary. Even though it was self-defence, intending to actually attack Rick definitely makes the two situations very different.

Do you think Gary can psychologically recover from this?
Probably not. I can’t see how he’ll ever get past this – he's lost everything and now he’s killed two people. But I think it is the start of a new Gary Windass…

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Authors

Johnathon HughesSoaps Writer, RadioTimes.com
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