Five huge ITV Coronation Street theories: teen held captive, favourite set for legal trauma and explosive health twist
Lauren Bolton's disappearance is the talk of the cobbles.
BOBBY Crawford is increasingly preoccupied for Lauren Bolton’s safety after she vanished from Weatherfield.
This week in Coronation Street, Bobby reports her as missing while bully Mason Radcliffe finds himself a new target.
1. Knife crime twist
Liam Connor’s bullying torment reached a heart-breaking level when the lad decided that his only option to escape it all was death.
Six years after Aidan Connor’s suicide, the ITV drama tackled suicidal ideation, pushing forward the reality that bullying victims can turn to devastating decisions when targeted by bullies.
The culprit, Mason Radcliffe (played by Luca Toolan), has been tormenting Liam for several months and even pulled out a knife on him.
But in recent scenes of the Manchester-based program, Gary Wind
This seems to be enough for Mason to let go of his unexplained grudge against Liam.
Unfortunately for Dylan Wilson (Liam McCheyne), he becomes the first new target that Mason aims for, despite being his sidekick for weeks on end.
Coming up, Sean Tully (Antony Cotton) makes his son Dylan promise to give Mrs Crawshaw the names of the bullies.
However, when he reads a threatening text from Mason, Dylan’s visibly scared.
Dylan shows the headteacher the texts on his phone but will he name the bullies responsible for Liam’s suffering?
In other scenes, Gary tells his wife Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon) that they need to come up with a better plan for Liam as she’s in danger of making herself ill by watching her son round the clock.
Meanwhile, Dylan furtively retrieves his confiscated phone and listens to a message from Mason.
Could Dylan experience the same pain Liam did before him?
While this remains to be seen, one fan took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and shared a theory about Dylan finally turning his back on Mason.
However, this soap watcher also predicted the bullying storyline could end in tragedy.
“I think Dylan will redeem himself by informing on Mason and as Mason has his knife, I think one of the three boys will get stabbed, one will end up arrested and one will end up taking the blame.”
Could Dylan be hurt or, worse yet, killed?
Could it then push his mother Violet Wilson to finally make another appearance in the cobbles as Jenny Platt will be reprising her role?
2. Love rivalry intensifies
Meanwhile, a cash-strapped Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon) rocked up the cobbles again earlier this year and rekindled her romance with Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard).
But as her money woes grew more concerning, she decided to do whatever she could to fix them – including taking advantage of Daniel and Daisy’s most recent separation.
In recent scenes of the Manchester-based program, Bethany came up with an article for Chit Chat Magazine in which she recounted Daisy’s affair with Ryan Connor.
This illicit romance, as viewers will recall, took place after the waiter had saved her from a harrowing acid attack, while she was getting ready to tie the knot with Daniel.
Bethany and Daniel split up as the article drove a clear wedge between them, but there’s more trouble looming on the horizon.
This week, Daisy is publicly humiliated when her affair makes the front page but she’s known for her mean streak and she grows determined to get Bethany back.
It all begins when Daniel asks Daisy if she’ll look after his son Bertie for a few hours she agrees, looking wistfully after Daniel.
Daisy confides in Glenda Shuttleworth (Jodie Prenger) that there’s still a spark between her and Daniel and she hopes they can get back together.
But with Rita Tanner’s birthday party in full swing in the Rovers, Mary Taylor (Patti Clare) receives a message and accidentally airdrops it to everyone in the pub.
Daisy’s face falls as she reads ‘I had a Torrid Affair with my Acid Attack Hero’.
In later scenes, Daniel apologises to Daisy for failing to warn her about the article but she gives him short shrift.
He then tries to make up with Bethany but she too cuts him dead.
Later on, Bethany is back to square one after a harsh conversation with her editor.
A fuming Bethany tells her mother Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien) that because of Daisy making a complaint, she’s been sacked.
Bethany confronts Daisy, accusing her of sabotaging her career.
Daniel heads over, shocked to hear that Daisy had Bethany fired.
As the row escalates, Daisy reveals Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) blackmailed her and Ryan and only asked Daniel to tutor her so she could increase the pressure, leaving her ex reeling.
Later on, back home, Daisy broods, but she gets a huge surprise when her stepmother Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews) reveals she’s got a visitor.
Daisy’s gobsmacked to see Ryan Connor, who left Weatherfield last year to go to Glasgow with his new girlfriend Crystal Hyde.
But why is he back?
While many viewers believe that Ryan may be back for Daisy, another theory could suggest he may have got wind of Bethany’s return to Coronation Street – and he could be wanting to rekindle their romance.
If such is the case, Daisy could have another reason to go after Bethany.
But what if Ryan returns to Weatherfield to make Bethany pay for her article in Chit Chat Magazine?
Recent scenes of the long-running program have shown Bethany receive threatening messages from an unknown sender.
Although it may only have a link with Lauren Bolton’s involvement with Griff Reynolds’ far-right gang, could Ryan be meddled into it?
3. Hostage ordeal
Speaking of Lauren, and as mentioned above, the wayward teen has mysteriously vanished from the cobbles.
Bobby Crawford (Jack Carroll) was the first to realise that something wasn’t right about Lauren as he entered her flat to find it unlocked and empty.
Since then, particularly after Lauren’s mysterious ex arrived to pay her a visit, viewers have taken to social media to share their thoughts about what they believe could have happened to Lauren – and it’s not looking great for her.
“Damn. The bloke assaulting Lauren kidnapped her?”, one viewer commented.
Another agreed: “I think someone has abducted Lauren.”
A third soap watcher wrote: “Reckon Lauren’s dodgy mystery man has taken her.”
“Has Lauren been kidnapped by the boyfriend ??”, one viewer added while another fan concluded: “WHERE IS LAUREN?! DID HER EX KIDNAP HER?! IS SHE OKAY?”
Soap viewers are expecting Lauren to be held captive by an unknown assailant who could be her persistent ex-boyfriend and many theories about him are circulating online with some fans thinking Nathan Curtis or Rob Donovan could make a return.
This week, Bobby calls at Lauren’s flat again to find there’s no answer, and he heads to the police station to report her missing.
Beloved copper Craig Tinker (Colson Smith) promises to make some enquiries – but will Lauren be found?
4. Fan favourite gets the blame
While the search for Lauren begins this week, one Corrie icon may be facing huge legal trouble.
Recent shots have shown Roy Cropper actor David Neilson film scenes in court alongside other soap starts such as Carla Connor star Alison King, Mollie Gallagher, who portrays Roy’s niece Nina Lucas and Calum Lill aka Joel Deering.
Roy was one of the last people to see Lauren before she mysteriously vanished which could suggest he may be a person of interest in her disappearance.
The café owner sacked Lauren and showed up to her flat with the last of her wages.
Could his visit be enough for the authorities to pin Lauren’s disappearance on him?
5. Health torment
Meanwhile, trouble is still looming on the horizon for Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford).
The florist recently embarked on an affair with Tommy Orpington (Matt Milburn) but someone has rumbled the illicit romance.
Coming up, Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) tells Tracy he knows about her affair after his wife Sally (Sally Dynevor) began to put two and two together and she has to tell her husband, Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson).
Tracy returns home with a feeling of dread, but she’s wrongfooted when Steve goes down on one knee and asks her if she’ll renew their vows – and she finds herself agreeing.
An excited Steve tells Tim that he and Tracy are renewing their vows and he’d like him to be his best man, leaving his pal horrified.
Later on, Tracy breaks the news to her father figure Ken Barlow (William Roache) and daughter Amy (Elle Mulvaney) that she’s been having a fling with Tommy.
The pair of them are appalled by Tracy’s bombshell.
Elsewhere, Tommy puts the finishing touches to their bathroom while Tim tells Sally he wants him gone out of loyalty to Steve.
However, one fan pointed out a detail soap bosses seemed to have missed.
“Just a random question that’s been bugging me for a while. I have no personal experience with transplants so can only go of what is Googlable”, they penned on Reddit.
“Shouldn’t she need a new transplant by now? She had Samir’s kidney for nearly 30 years now.”
“But Google says the average one lasts 20 – 25 years. Has this been addressed on the show or have they chosen to ignore it?”
Diehard Corrie viewers will remember that Tracy received a kidney from her mother Deirdre’s third husband Samir Rachid in the mid-1990s.
Tracy was in dire need of another kidney after taking bad ecstasy and falling seriously ill and Samir was beaten and killed while on his way to the operating block.
Could Tracy have a major health setback in the midst of her current storyline?
