Coronation Street is airing a harrowing new development in Bernie Winter-Alahan’s storyline with stalker Mal Roper, as he’s set to blackmail her into having sex with him in upcoming scenes.

Viewers of the ITV soap know that the electrician has become obsessed with Bernie since the two spent a night drinking and taking drugs at Chariot Square Hotel earlier this year, despite the fact that she is married to Dev

Mal initially visited the cobbles to confront Roy Cropper, whom he thought had been having an affair with his wife Alice. Roy reassured him that his relationship with Alice was entirely platonic, and revealed she’d never mentioned her husband,

A distraught Mal sought comfort at the bar, which is where he met a grief-stricken Bernie. Mal then decided to stay in Weatherfield to remain close to her, though things got out of hand as Kit Green attacked him in an ill-conceived attempt to protect his mum.

Now, upcoming scenes will see the newcomer take advantage of the situation in order to force Bernie to get intimate with him, with The Sun reporting that the villain will go to extreme lengths to get what he wants.

In a similar twist to the one centred on Anna and Pat Phelan in 2008, Mal is set to threaten to reveal that Kit was behind the aggression that landed him in a coma if Bernie doesn’t agree to sleep with him.

Bernie will be shocked over the extent of Mal’s vile blackmailing, but she remains conflicted given Kit’s involvement.

Mal’s coercion comes at a difficult time for Bernie, who has been struggling with the loss of her son Paul Foreman due to Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and the death of her son-in-law, vicar Billy Mayhew.