Coronation Street Spoilers for Next Week – Monday 19th to Friday 23rd February

Next week on Coronation Street, Sean discovers Dylan’s involvement in Liam’s bullying, while Lauren disappears. Plus, who returns to the cobbles after 16 years away?

Sean (Antony Cotton) is forced to face a hard truth next week, as he finally discovers son Dylan’s (Liam McCheyne) involvement in Liam’s (Charlie Wrenshall) bullying.

14-year-old Liam has been mercilessly tormented over several months by Weatherfield High pupil Mason Radcliffe (Luca Toolan) and his cronies. Although Dylan was reluctant to join in at first in teasing his supposed friend, Mason’s influence over him, and a fear of reprisal for going against him, eventuated in Dylan turning against Liam himself.

Sean has refused to entertain the idea that his son could be a bully, but his housemate George (Tony Maudsley) has clearly held his own suspicions over Dylan’s behaviour, and has been able to see through Mason’s butter-wouldn’t-melt facade.

Liam’s mum Maria (Samia Longchambon) and stepdad Gary (Mikey North) had been at a loss as to how they could help him, with no evidence of what was occurring and Liam’s refusal to talk about it.

Things came to a head this week however when Maria, as a last resort, catfished Liam and gained access to his social media, where the constant barrage of abusive messages aimed at her son devastated her. At his lowest after seeing how worried Maria was, Liam took to the internet to research a way to end it all.

Maria and Gary were horrified when Weathy High head Mrs Crawshaw later alerted them to the search history on Liam’s laptop, with Maria realising that a conversation she’d had with her son earlier that day was his way of saying goodbye.

Rushing home, the pair were relieved to find that Liam hadn’t gone through with his drastic plan.

Next week, Maria’s exhausted as she keeps watch over a sleeping Liam, and decides to ring the surgery to get him an urgent appointment. Luckily the ever reliable Dr Gaddas is able to fit him in, and Liam opens up to her about all the trauma he’s faced over the past few months, admitting that he had considered ending it all as the bullying became too much.

Dr Gaddas tells Maria that she’s putting in a referral to a mental health clinic, but warns there is a very long waiting list. A despaired Maria knows that she’s going to have to keep a close eye on Liam in that time.

Over at the precinct, Gary bumps into Mason in the playground, who goads Gary and warns him that Liam needs to watch his back. Mason clearly doesn’t know who he’s messing with, and as Gary’s anger boils over, he throws Mason to the floor whilst Dylan watches on in shock.

Sean is nearby and rushes over, threatening to report Gary to the police unless he lets Mason go.

Fed up of Dylan’s name being dragged through the mud, Sean demands that he hand over his phone, just so he can prove Dylan hasn’t been amongst the group of kids making Liam’s life a living hell. But after Dylan reluctantly gives him the phone, Sean’s horrified as he scrolls through the list of messages.

“Sean just wants to see the good in him and doesn’t recognise what’s going on,” Antony Cotton told EverySoap and other media during a recent press call. “Sean’s not versed enough in this world and isn’t reading between the lines. He sees the basics of what’s being presented to him; Mason is a bully, so therefore it’s all him.”

“Unfortunately I imagine that’s how a lot of parents come unstuck,” Antony adds. “Because as long as their kids say they weren’t at the park, and weren’t doing this and that, then what else do they have to go off?”

Later in the week, No.11 celebrates Dylan’s 16th birthday. Eileen (Sue Cleaver), Mary (Patti Clare) and George all do their best to make a fuss of Dylan, but Sean can barely look his son in the eye after his discovery.

When Sean hands over his birthday present, Dylan feels a pang of guilt as he unwraps a watch with a heartfelt engraving on it. It’s down to Eileen to try and broker peace as she encourages Sean to sit down and talk to his son properly.

Will Sean be able to forgive Dylan for his part in Liam’s anguish?

---

As Sean faces a time of tough parenting, it’s been revealed this week that Dylan’s mum Violet (Jenny Platt) will be returning to Weatherfield for the first time in 16 years.

Having left the street in 2008, Violet was last seen during a one-off appearance filmed in London in 2011.

“She’s back tomorrow!” Antony enthused as he spoke to us at the end of January. “She’s not back permanently but we’ll be filming over the next month or so.”

“Obviously it’s really strange because I’ve not gone anywhere,” Antony continues. “But Jenny’s not even been in the new building [referring to Corrie’s move to MediaCity in 2013], let alone played Violet! We’ve kept in touch throughout but I’m very excited to see her.”

It’s been teased that Dylan will be facing very serious repercussions over the coming months for his involvement with Mason, and will be needing the support of both Sean and Violet, so is there a chance she’ll be returning more in the future?

“The storyline is going to go on, so as long as it goes well and she enjoys it, I hope she might,” Antony adds.  “If there’s more of this storyline which gets more serious then I would imagine we’d see Violet again.”

Violet’s return is currently scheduled to air on Wednesday 20th March 2024.

---

Elsewhere on the cobbles, Bobby (Jack Carroll) is concerned for Lauren after learning that she has been making videos for adult streaming platform O-Vidz.

Bobby has been laying on all the charm in recent weeks to woo Lauren, and his genuine care for her has seen her start to reciprocate his feelings.

But a lack of funds as the bills pile up, as well as a mysterious ‘ex-boyfriend’ lurking in the shadows, have been a big worry for Lauren, and so she resorted to the videos as a tried and tested money spinner.

Next week, having discovered what Lauren has been up to, Bobby tries to express his concern to her, but is frustrated when Lauren doesn’t want to talk about it.

In an attempt to find another way to raise some cash, Lauren approaches Bethany, and asks if she’d be willing to write a story on how she was brainwashed by a far-right group and sell it to one of the magazines.

Later in the week, Lauren’s situation isn’t helped when an unfortunate incident at the cafe leaves Roy (David Neilson) with no choice but to let Lauren go.

Roy later calls at the precinct flat to check up on Lauren and hand over her final wages. Lauren assures Roy that there’s no hard feelings, thanks him for his kindness, and explains that she’s planning to leave Weatherfield to start afresh elsewhere.

When Bobby later calls around, he’s confused to find the flat door unlocked with no sign of Lauren inside. After sending a message to Lauren he leaves, closing the door behind him, and shares his concerns with Max (Paddy Bever).

In the meantime, Bethany has received a threatening message from one of Lauren’s old contacts in the far-right group. Could it be connected to Lauren’s sudden disappearance?