Coronation Street’s Daniel Brocklebank has opened up about what’s to come in the next part of Billy Mayhew and Paul Foreman’s (Peter Ash) emotional storyline.
Paul has motor neurone disease, which means the illness will sadly take his life. In upcoming episodes of the ITV soap, Paul and Billy will be told by an occupational therapist that his muscles have reached a point where it’s no longer possible for him to sit safely in the stairlift he uses.
Paul and Billy are on a waiting list to move elsewhere but until this happens, it means Paul will be stuck in the flat above the flower shop.
With this in mind, Billy will soon tell Paul that tomorrow, they’ll leave the flat one last time and they can do whatever he wants.
While these scenes will be heartwarming they will, of course, be tinged with sadness. The news from the therapist will serve as a reminder to Billy and Paul that their time together is running out a lot quicker than they thought.
Discussing what’s ahead over the next few weeks, actor Daniel Brocklebank told Metro.co.uk at this year’s Radio Times Soap Awards: ‘Obviously, we’ve got Paul’s demise really. That will probably be the next large thing. We’ve got some really beautiful stuff coming out over the next few months.
‘Obviously some heart breaking stuff, but on the positive side of it, my grandfather had motor neurone disease and I’m an ambassador for the MND association, and in the 23 years I’ve been working with them I’ve never seen so much awareness raised for MND. So, we’re doing good things, despite it being a tough year for Billy.’
The actor went on to highlight that despite this being such a difficult ordeal for the couple, it’s been incredibly important to find moments of light relief within their journey too:
‘I think that, even in very dark periods, as human beings we all find lightness in those moments’, he said.
‘And we’re blessed with a great set of writers who, as Corrie always does, try to find humour where it can. And Pete and I get on incredibly well, so we try to make sure we’re giggling as much as we can between scenes.’
With Paul’s death on the horizon, we couldn’t speak to Dan without asking him for a few spoilers regarding Billy’s future. Not only will he deal with the overwhelming grief, he will also have to navigate a new life without Paul.
Sadly though, we don’t quite know what’s ahead just yet!
‘I’m not entirely sure!’, he smiled.
‘Billy’s in the hands of the scriptwriters. We only get our scripts every couple of weeks so I don’t know! Watch this space!’.
