Corrie icon’s return ‘exposed’ after five years as ‘new Rovers Return owner’ with Carla

Coronation Street fans are certain that a cobbles legend is coming back to help run the Rovers with Carla Connor.

Over in the soap recently, Carla (Alison King) has recently become the shock new owner of the iconic pub on the cobbles. Fans will recall how at Christmas, Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan) stole money from serial killer Stephen Reid in a bid to buy the beloved pub back.

Stephen (Todd Boyce) had bagged the money, before he was killed, from Underworld – this meant it technically belonged to owner Carla. And at first, Daisy and Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews) kept their mouths shut about the truth.

But nothing stays buried in soap land. And last week, Carla exposed Jenny and Daisy’s fraud, determined to get her money back. But instead of reporting them to the cops, she declared herself as the new Rovers Return owner.

Now it’s been claimed Carla will be recruiting the help of much-loved past character: Michelle Connor, played by Kym Marsh. And it wouldn’t be Michelle’s first time behind the bar as she was the landlady when she ran the pub with former flame Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson).

Kym made her Corrie debut back in 2006 playing Michelle. And for 13 years, she was a regular on the ITV soap and became a firm favourite with viewers.

Michelle was involved in a slew of big storylines including the death of her brothers and a harrowing baby swap plot. She also had an ionic friendship with sister-in-law Carla that was a hit with viewers.

But in 2019, Kym revealed she was leaving the soap after 13 years leaving fans gutted. Her final episode aired in December of that year.

Since her exit, Michelle has been mentioned numerous times. Her son Ryan (Ryan Prescott) was involved in a horrific acid attack in 2023 and Ryan even left the cobbles to visit Michelle in Ireland.

Now fans reckon Michelle could be coming to help run the pub with Carla. On X, formerly known as Twitter, one person said: “Carla, ring Michelle and run the Rovers together!” Someone else replied: “This would be epic I can see it now.”

A third chimed in and mused: “They need to bring back Michelle for Carla. Carla has literally lost everything since Peter left

Meanwhile on a Reddit thread discussing the Rover’s potential new owner, one fan noted how they wouldn’t want Michelle to return and take over. They wrote: “I just don’t want to see Michelle come back and take over. I would riot.”

Similarly, AI has echoed the thoughts of the fans. Daily Star has quizzed one of the world’s most popular artificially intelligent “creative” tools Gemini, to see if Michelle could return to run the Rovers with Carla.

The program responded: “Michelle and Carla were a formidable team. Their return to working side-by-side, but this time at the Rovers, could be a fun dynamic to watch. They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and their rivalry could lead to some entertaining moments.”

Gemini also noted another reason for Michelle’s return could be a “fresh start.” It explained: “Coronation Street viewers last saw Michelle leaving Weatherfield for a new life in Ireland. Perhaps things haven’t worked out there, and the Rovers could be a chance for her to get a fresh start, closer to her family.”