Coronation Street star Georgia Taylor has hinted at a full-blown affair storyline for Toyah Battersby and

Nick Tilsley.

The pair have been growing closer in recent weeks as they’ve bonded over their ongoing frustrations with

Leanne, who’s Toyah’s sister and Nick’s long-term partner.

Leanne has become obsessed with a cult called The Institute over the past few months. This has resulted in Nick playing a bigger role in supporting Toyah through some emotional times, including when she shared the tragic story of how she lost her baby daughter Rose.

Last month, Toyah and Nick crossed the line by sharing a kiss and they went further by sleeping together a couple of weeks later.

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Speaking about the storyline, Georgia explained: “Toyah and Nick used to hate each other – certainly when I was first in the show. Even in more recent years, they tolerated each other, rather than really getting on.

“But when Nick was the first person that Toyah told about Rose, he was so understanding, so gentle and so sympathetic. He cared for her in a way that Leanne didn’t.

“Toyah saw Nick in a light that she’d never seen him in before. That suddenly, and confusingly, became attractive to her.”

Asked whether Toyah and Nick’s story is leading to a longer-term affair, Georgia laughed: “It’s a soap, so I would hope so! We have really wanted to make this an emotional affair, rather than just sex.

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“Because it’s really not just: ‘Oh we can’t resist each other, we’ve got to tear each other’s clothes off’. We’ve all seen that a million times in soap, and that’s great fun to watch.

“But it has to be something deeper than that for it to be interesting. So Ben [Price, who plays Nick] and I have really focused on trying to make it an emotional connection. But again, what that means is that potentially the stakes are a lot higher.”

Friday’s episode (July 5) saw Toyah discover that she may have ovarian cancer after being admitted to hospital with severe pains.

Toyah had initially been told that she was pregnant, but this turned out to be a false positive test result.

Asked whether Nick will be the main source of support for Toyah, Georgia replied: “It’s difficult, because I think Nick wants to be there for her. He’s becoming emotionally fully invested in her, but it’s about how much she lets him.

“On the other side, we’ve got Leanne with The Institute and it’s really affecting Leanne’s behaviour. So she’s lovely when Toyah’s having the scan, but then as the storyline moves on, Leanne starts to emotionally disconnect even more.

“Then because Toyah’s got no friends – she doesn’t, let’s be honest – it is going to be Nick, because he’s the one that’s there with his arms open, saying: ‘Let me help you’.

“There are moments when they’re overwhelmed with guilt, but there are also moments where both Nick and Toyah seem to be able to comfortably put that to one side.

“I don’t want to victim-blame, but I think it’s because Leanne’s behaviour is just so out there – she’s so combative and she’s almost like a robot. We’ve played some scenes where it’s like she’s almost not a real person.

“It’s quite chilling, and I think Jane [Danson]’s doing an amazing job. Because it’s like you’re playing a scene with someone that you’ve never played a scene with before, it’s really odd. So it’s mixed feelings. There’s some guilt, but she’s also like: ‘What am I getting from my sister? We’ve lost her.”

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Georgia also spoke about the possibility of Toyah and Leanne’s sisterly relationship being destroyed as this story continues.

She admitted: “We keep saying: ‘How are the sisters going to get back together? How are they going to do it?’ And they will find a way because the storyliners are clever.

“I suppose we’ve just got to hope that, because we do have that history, and because Jane and I do have that chemistry, that we will find a way to make it believable. Of course they have to, in the long-term, come back together. But before they can come back together, it’s going to be explosive!”