Coronation Street’s Joel finally finds Lauren – then kills her?

There are some serious developments in the hunt for missing Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) in next week’s Coronation Street – ones that could have terrifying consequences. 

With evil Joel Deering (Calum Lill) behind her disappearance, forthcoming episodes see his fiancée Dee-Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown), Nina Lucas (Mollie Gallagher) and Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon) make a breakthrough in the search for her that places her in terrible danger. 

The week begins with Dee-Dee and Nina left shocked when a nurse confirms that Roy Cropper’s (David Neilson) recent mystery visitor was a young girl with blonde hair, and report back to Joel that police are now checking CCTV to confirm her identity. 

Lauren, as viewers know, was confirmed to be alive earlier this week, with a special episode taking us through the events of her disappearance – and Joel’s role in it.

Roy, who was wrongly accused and imprisoned for her suspected murder, is delighted that Lauren appears to be alive, but Nina is angry that she left it so long to return and clear Roy’s name before vanishing again. 

Bethany tells mum Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien) about the sighting of Lauren and how the coat she was wearing matches the coat they saw on the girl in the CCTV from the pizza joint in Leicester, and that she was clearly the person using her credit card. 

Later in the week, Bethany and Joel set about going through credit card statements to find clues as to Lauren’s whereabouts. 

But when he receives a text from blackmailer and DS Lisa Swain’s daughter Betsy (Sydney Martin) demanding more money, he heads out, telling Dee-Dee he’s off to work. But Dee-Dee continues looking through the statements, and finds ticket transactions in Warrington and decides to check soup kitchens. 

It is then that a homeless woman confirms that Lauren is squatting in a nearby pub.

Dee-Dee then unwittingly places Lauren in huge danger when she calls Joel to let him know, before setting off with Bethany to find her. 

Will Joel get to Lauren before Dee-Dee and Bethany? And if he does, will he kill her for real this time?

Vicky Myers, who plays the police officer leading the investigation into Lauren’s case, DS Lisa Swain, recently told Metro.co.uk of how she would like to see Joel get his comeuppance. 

She predicted Swain would be ‘fierce’ upon discovering the truth, explaining: ‘I could only begin to imagine how Lisa would feel about that, what with Joel being in a similar profession and a position of trust. That abuse of trust and power, targeting vulnerable women – including her own daughter – she would be fierce with that. Not solely for the women he’s groomed but the women he’s abused full stop like Dee-Dee and Emily. There’s a whole host of women. 

‘I feel that female empowerment and the rise up from that, the unity it will bring, will be terrific. For him to get his comeuppance either individually or collectively. 

‘I’m really looking forward to it, which sounds ridiculous given the nature of the storyline, but with grooming, there are a lot of vulnerable young people who don’t necessarily realise that’s what it is.’

Will Joel get his comeuppance before it is too late for Lauren?

Coronation Street airs these scenes on Monday 15 and Wednesday 17 July at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

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