ITV Coronation Street shock return for Tracy Barlow as Kate Ford reprises iconic role

Coronation Street will air a surprise return for Tracy Barlow next week.

Kate Ford departed the ITV soap when Tracy headed off to Spain to be with her lover Tommy Orpington. Leaving her friends and family behind, including Steve McDonald – who she recently had split from, Tracy decided to quit Weatherfield to search for sunnier climes with her new boyfriend, prompting fans to fear Kate Ford had quit the soap.

However, Tracy will make a surprise return to the Cobbles next week amid a new storyline for Ken and Cassie. Ken was hospitalised after injuring himself in an accident at home and Cassie had been helping the Barlows to look after Ken whilst they were all busy with their own lives and their work – but when Tracy returns, she isn’t happy.

When she makes her way back to Weatherfield next week, Tracy is shocked to find out Ken is employing Cassie to be his carer. Cassie takes offence with Tracy’s comments and Ken is curious why she is back. She says she’s just there to be with Amy, but Ken senses there might be something else she is hiding – but what is it?

Back at the start of the year, Kate spoke out about her latest storyline, which saw her fall in love with Tommy and the pair embarked on an affair. Speaking about the storyline, she said: “I haven’t had a storyline as meaty as this for quite a long time. Me and Simon haven’t done any kissing scenes for about 10 years, so I was a bit nervous. There’s that initial thing of ‘oh, gosh, I’ve only known this person for five days, this is quite strange.’ Once you’ve done it then you feel OK but I’ve had to come out of my comfort zone a little.”

She explained to The Mirror: “It’s not easy turning on Tracy’s sexy side. I think that’s a lot less challenging to play in your 30s… I’m trying not to be too vampy with it because that would be a bit too much.”