Coronation Street: Yasmeen slashes Geoff's throat in moment of terror
The abused wife (played by Shelley King) takes drastic measures after being tormented by her husband (Ian Bartholomew)
Coronation Street’s domestic abuse storyline is set to escalate as poor wife Yasmeen Nazir lashes out at husband Geoff Metcalfe in an episode to air 1st May.
After weeks of torment at the hands of Geoff (Ian Bartholomew), Yasmeen (Shelley King) is pushed to her limit, hitting her husband with a wine bottle in a moment of terror.
Backed into a corner by bullying Geoff, Yasmeen slashes his throat with broken glass, left terrified as he falls to the floor with husband with blood pouring from his wound. Shaking, she dials the emergency services, telling the operator “I’ve just killed my husband.”
Is Geoff’s reign of terror over? Has Yasmeen actually killed her husband? And will anyone believe she acted in self-defence after months of abuse?
During the past few months, the soap’s domestic abuse storyline has seen Geoff becoming ever-controlling over his wife. Not only has the DJ isolated her from friends and family, but he’s also stolen money from the pensioner, chipped away at her confidence, secretly set up CCTV around the house, locked her in a magician’s box and even forced her to eat her pet chicken.
More recently, Yasmeen also discovered that Geoff had been using an escort agency.
The abuse continues in upcoming episodes when Yasmeen discovers she has contracted a sexually transmitted disease, with Geoff blaming her for the infection. Geoff will also force his wife to wear a dress he purchased for an escort, before depriving her of food.
It’s this latest twist that is too much for Yasmeen. “Geoff has a bottle of wine on the table and food, he doesn't offer her anything. All she wants is to eat something and hug him,” King explained.
“She is not thinking coherently, she hasn’t eaten for two and a half days properly. What she does is react like a wounded cornered animal. She just wants it all to stop, she defends herself, she doesn't attack him but it is him who ends up bleeding on the kitchen floor.”
According to the actress, the subsequent wine bottle attack was one of the hardest scenes to film in the storyline.
“There have been many very difficult scenes throughout this story. But just the technical aspect of a scene like this means that something you see that just plays out for three minutes might take the whole day to film.
“During the day and a half that we concentrated on the portrayal of that horror, we had to keep in the moment, barely talking outside the scene. It was also a closed set.
“Every single person on set understood and were amazing and were concentrating on making those moments happen.”
King recently appeared in a special domestic abuse awareness video featuring the cast of Corrie. Stars including Julie Hesmondhalgh (Hayley Cropper) and Sair Khan (Alya Nazir) appeared in the Women's Aid video to support domestic abuse victims amid the coronavirus lockdown.
Visit our dedicated Coronation Street page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you’re looking for more to watch check out our TV guide.
If you or someone you know is at risk from domestic abuse please go to: www.womensaid.org.uk. You can also email helpline@womensaid.org.uk.
For emotional support, you can contact the National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247.