Coronation Street star Gareth Pierce has said the twists and turns in her latest storyline can be ‘hard to process’ as it was confirmed his character could end up married in upcoming scenes.
Fans best know the actor for playing Todd Grimshaw in the ITV soap, after he was recast in the role back in 2020, and for the best part of the year, he’s been breaking viewers’ hearts in a domestic abuse storyline between Todd and his partner, Theo Silverton.
As Corrie fans have seen, as they relationship developed following their first, unexpected, meeting on the cobbles last March, it was revealed that the builder wasn’t quite as innocent as he tried to seem as he turned to controlling Todd, with his behaviour since turning towards both physical and mental abuse of his partner.
But it was last week, after Theo’s birthday saw the abuser berating Todd for embarrassing him after the undertaker’s card denied at the end of an expensive meal at the Bistro, that the builder a knife and pointed it towards Todd, who hit back: “You going stab me? Are you? Well go on, do it. You think I care anymore? You think I wanna carry on? Do it. Put me out of my misery, do it!”
The following day, after Theo spent the night in his van, the pair seemingly called time on their romance but as those who have been following the long-running show, it all seems to be another part of Theo’s plan to control Todd, as he’s been seen tracking his whereabouts.
Spoilers for this week have already revealed that Theo will slip some drugs into Todd’s drink and new spoilers for next week’s Corrie have revealed that, having sabotaged Todd’s marathon preparation, Theo joins Sarah Platt, James Bailey, Gemma and Chesney Winter-Brown at the tram stop and tells them that he knocked on Todd’s door but there was no reply and he must have set off already.
In the flat, Todd wakes up groggy and confused and he’s horrified to realise he’s missed the marathon. Later, as Theo returns to the street with his medal, an embarrassed Todd hides from his friends but Theo persuades him to let him in. As Todd despairs at how he’s let everybody down, Theo pulls him in for a hug. Will Todd succumb to Theo once more?
Speaking about whether Todd can see a way of of Theo’s control, Gareth shared: “I think Todd is starting to realise he’s trapped in something very destructive but what comes with that is a certain shame and humiliation. Also sadly he’s so deep into it it’s become hard to see a way out.”
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Theo springs a wedding on Todd(Image: ITV)
Later, Theo informs Todd that he has a surprise planned for him. Calling at the undertakers dressed to the nines, Theo leads a blindfolded Todd into the register office where Gary and Maria Windass wait. Producing two wedding rings, Theo explains to Todd that they never cancelled their wedding, so it can still go ahead. How will a shell-shocked Todd react?
Asked how he feels about the latest twist, and how he thinks viewers will react, Gareth said: “It just raises the stakes again. I think when the viewers see this kind of marital ambush, they’re going to be thinking, how can that even come about? Surely you can’t get married by mistake!
“As an actor it can be hard to process sometimes, like when Todd proposed to Theo not long after the special episode when we really saw Theo’s physical abuse. You need to commit fully to a sense that Todd’s hit rock bottom or that his eyes are suddenly open. Whatever happens there will still be these erratic decisions because that’s what this type of abuse can do.
“But that’s the stuff I love, the challenge of tracking the route, however unpredictable and hopefully finding a truthful performance. What I’m always aspiring to is for it to feel real.”
