"It's been a big secret for us to have a lid on."
Coronation Street fans were left stunned when the real culprit behind Lauren Bolton's disappearance was finally revealed and it was none other than solicitor Joel Deering!
In a series of flashbacks, viewers saw how Joel cosied up to a vulnerable Lauren when he represented her after her arrest. It was shown that Joel wormed his way into her life by covering her bills and coerced her into a sexual relationship.
Afterwards, Joel bought Lauren expensive jewellery, and it was revealed he had been rough with her during sex, ignoring her pleas for him to stop.
Lauren then stood up to Joel, who snapped and beat her over the head multiple times. Lauren played dead and made a run for it, and she has been in hiding ever since – but not any longer.
It is quite the role that Lill has taken on, with him having to playing a villainous yet caring man, and this was the plan from Coronation Street bosses all along!
Speaking exclusively at the RadioTimes.com Soap Awards 2024 sponsored by Inspired Villages, Channique Sterling-Brown (who plays Dee-Dee Bailey) revealed that Joel's dark has side has "always been the plan of the story".
"When Cal joined last year we had screen tests together, and it wasn't just chemistry, it was to check that he could be this evil character because it was always the plan that he was going to groom Lauren," she explained.
"So it's been a big secret for us to have a lid on for a long time."
But will Joel get his comeuppance? It may not be for a while yet. Lill told RadioTimes.com: "I hope that he does because he deserves to get his comeuppance."
Sterling-Brown echoed this and admitted: "Eventually what's in the dark will have to come to light, so we'll see what happens."
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The RadioTimes.com Soap Awards 2024, sponsored by Inspired Villages, took place on 13th July. Find out more about the winners!
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Katelyn Mensah is the Entertainment and Factual Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
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