Coronation Street spoilers as villain Rob Donovan set for steamy prison affair storyline

But things are set to get steamy for Rob as it's been reported that the character will be caught up in a love affair with a prison guard. According to The Sun, former Shameless actress Rebecca Atkinson will play the prison officer in question, Mandy.

The affair is described by the paper's source as "a much-needed risqué plotline," adding that viewers "will have to wait and see whether or not Mandy gets caught by prison bosses."

ITV declined to comment when approached by RadioTimes.com.

Atkinson is best known for playing Karen Maguire in Shameless from 2004 to 2013, having also gone on to star in River City, Flatmates and Silent Witness.

Rob's unexpected return to the soap has already taken a dramatic turn after last week's episodes saw him stage a dramatic hostage situation with fellow prisoner Matty Radcliffe (Seamus McGoff).

Pulling out a knife and grabbing a prison guard, Matty was eventually intercepted by Rob who appeared to save the day and, in the process, redeem his image for his son Bobby (Jack Carroll).

But as ever the cunning character, it was revealed that Rob had orchestrated the whole potentially life-threatening scenario, pointing to a much wider game plan.

As to whether or not his dalliances with Mandy are all part of it, we'll just have to wait and see. Something tells us, though, that Rob won't be spending time on building a romantic connection unless it benefits him on a bigger scale so there very well could be some more high-stakes prison scenes on the cards.

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