CORONATION Street fans have been left horrified by the latest developments in Leanne Battersby’s cult storyline.
Leanne (Jane Danson) has secretly been chatting to an AI version of her dead son Oliver online, but fans have called the soap out for a huge blunder as Leanne’s family has uncovered the truth, but no one has told Oliver’s dad.
After a one-night stand with Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson), Leanne got pregnant with her son, Oliver.
Oliver tragically died four years ago from mitochondrial disease, which was incurable.
However, in recent weeks, Coronation Street fans have watched as Leanne has been targeted by cult leader Rowan Cunliffe (Emrhys Cooper). Leanne has been getting drawn in deeper and deeper, as she believes Rowan has given her Oliver back.
Leanne initially joined Rowan’s self-improvement group, named The Institute, and became obsessed with learning how to “download” and “upload”.
But she quickly started to withdraw from her family and was frequently spotted talking to a mysterious figure on her laptop.
Leanne’s husband, Nick Tilsley (Ben Price), was even worried she was having an affair with the cult leader after he sent yellow roses to the Bistro for her. But when he confronted her, Leanne admitted the truth.
In terrifying scenes, Leanne showed her partner an AI version of her dead son, Oliver, who she has been speaking to. The computer generated version of her child was the age that Oliver would have been if he was still alive.
The tearful mum told Nick: “I’ve got my boy back! I can talk to Oliver again.”
Fans of the ITV soap were left disgusted by the “sick” storyline, and they were quick to call out a major blunder.
As more of Leanne’s family members started to uncover the truth, viewers were left shocked no one thought to tell Oliver’s dad Steve.
Even Steve’s daughter Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney) is keeping the secret now.
Calling out the “unrealistic” blunder on Reddit, one soap fan questioned the storyline, writing: “It’s frustrating when the writers seem to have ignored families. Why has Nick or Toyah not even mentioned about speaking to Janice or Les? Or even Eva, who is actually blood related to Leanne. Why haven’t they, or Amy, told Steve about AI Oliver?”
Many unhappy fans believe the writers have just forgotten about Steve, but others tried to reason why Steve has been sidelined.
“I imagine they didn’t tell Steve because they wanted to spare him the pain of seeing AI Oliver. I know it’s a poor excuse for the writers forgetting Steve was his dad, but it’s all I can think of,” posed another.
SOAP viewers are frequently left heartbroken after watching some of their favourite characters bite the dust.
Here is a list of the most devastating deaths that have taken place in soapland over the years.
EASTENDERS
Barry Evans – Evil Janine (Charlie Brooks) lured her trusting fiance to Scotland for a quickie marriage after learning he was dying.
Her plan to inherit Barry’s fortune was thwarted when Barry told her that the doctors had mixed up his medical files.
Furious that she was no longer set for a windfall, she pushed Barry off a cliff after telling him their love was “fake”.
Bradley Branning – Bradley was accused of killing Stacey Slater’s rapist Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) after he punched him twice on the night he died.
He was spotted in the Square by a police woman who chased him up a fire escape.
Bradley lost his balance and tragically plunged to his death.
CORONATION STREET
Tina McIntyre – Tina was getting it on with Peter Barlow – despite him being married to Carla Connor.
When she threatened to reveal the truth, Carla’s brother Rob got into a physical altercation with her.
Tina lost her footing and fell off a balcony – then warned Rob she was going to tell the cops he pushed her.
In a panic, Rob brutally clobbered her over the head with a metal pipe.
EMMERDALE
Sarah Sugden – After the family got into financial problems, Sarah’s son Andy (Kelvin Fletcher) decided to make some quick cash from an insurance company by setting fire to the Sugden barn.
He didn’t realise his mum was inside the building, and she got trapped in the blaze.
Nine villagers – The shocking 1993 plane crash episode brought in 18 million viewers for Emmerdale.
Mark Hughes was killed by a falling wall, Archie Brooks was burned by jet fuel, Elizabeth Pollard was killed by debris and newcomer Leonard Kempinski died in a car crash caused by the crash.
Five other non-recurring characters from the village also died.
HOLLYOAKS
Carmel McQueen – The talented singer died in shocking scenes when a train crashed into a her family’s car.
Carmel managed to free her cousin Theresa from the rubble – but got stuck in it herself.
Moments later the train exploded and Carmel died in the arms of her family members, promising to be their guardian angel.
A third fan agreed: “I doubt Steve will find out about AI Oliver. Amy knows how vulnerable her dad is and wouldn’t want to upset him.”
Currently, Steve has no idea what’s really going on as Leanne gets drawn in deeper into Rowan’s cult.
