Coronation Street‘s Leanne Battersby makes an alarming confession over the Platt house fire next week.
Upcoming episodes see a devastating blaze rage through the Platts’ family home, with various suspects in the frame for causing the disaster.
Viewers will see an unknown figure post a lit rag through the letterbox at No.8.
Suspiciously, the arson incident comes just hours after Leanne has asked Steve McDonald to join her for a boozy afternoon. Leanne feels an affinity with Steve after they’ve reignited their passion, so she’s naturally disappointed when he doesn’t seem keen.
Later, Leanne is spotted near the scene of the crime, clutching an empty bottle of booze after drinking alone.
Leanne’s sister Toyah Habeeb is among the characters injured in the fire, so Leanne rushes over to check on her. Nick Tilsley is disgusted to see that Leanne is drunk and sends her away.
Persistent Leanne follows Nick to the hospital and joins him in the waiting room.
Nick bitterly accuses Leanne of starting the fire, especially after the recent toaster incident at his flat. Leanne firmly denies it, insisting that she was visiting the grave of her late son Oliver at the time.
However, as Leanne searches for her purse in her coat, she’s worried to find a box of matches hidden inside one of her pockets.
Steve is dismayed when he finds out that Leanne lied about being at Oliver’s grave to give herself an alibi.
Leanne finally admits the worrying truth to Steve, confessing that she can’t remember whether she started the fire or not because she was too drunk.
Although Leanne recalls watching Toyah head into the Platt house, the rest of her memories are a blur until she woke up in Victoria Garden with a box of matches in her pocket.
Steve advises Leanne to come clean with the police over how damning this looks, but will she agree to hand herself in? And is Leanne really the culprit or is she being framed by someone?
Coronation Street airs these scenes on Wednesday, February 5 on ITV1 and ITVX.