TOYAH Battersby is set to receive some devastating news as she battles cancer in Coronation Street.
In recent episodes, the long-running character (Georgia Taylor) was told she needed urgent surgery after a germ cell ovarian cancer diagnosis.
However, Leanne (Jane Danson) – who has fallen under the spell of a cult called The Institute – makes an announcement to her sister Toyah and her fiance Nick (Ben Price) that she will be ‘disconnecting’ from their treatment plan.
Rowan (Emrhys Cooper) has Leanne under his thumb in Coronation Street as she has become obsessed by his institution.
He will tell her that she’s doing the correct thing by looking out for herself by distancing herself away from Toyah.
Nick is absolutely mortified by her decision and so he goes to Toyah’s bedside as she undergoes the necessary surgery.
Meanwhile, Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney) is more excited than ever to join the Institute.
She will tell an ecstatic Leanne that she wants to invest Deirdre’s inheritance money to help the organisation with a new resource centre.
However, before she can do this, she will need the sign-off from her grandfather Ken (William Roache).
But back at the hospital, Nick is set to receive some devastating news from the consultant.
After Toyah suffered complications, he will hurriedly phone Leanne and tell her that she needs to get to the hospital as quick as she can.
Rowan wants to distract Leanne by talking to her about Amy’s decision, but Leanne will insist she does not have the time as she needs to go to Toyah’s side.
The cult leader will be left worried that he is losing his grip on Leanne and so resorts to desperate measures.
Before Leanne gets to the medical centre, Nick will confess his love to Toyah – who he had slept with before her diagnosis – and he reveals his plans to break the news to Leanne.
However, he might soon be beat to the chase as Rowan will come calling with a threat.
The cult leader leaves a message, demanding the £20,000 in investment money.
Georgia Taylor joined Coronation Street in 1997 to play Leanne’s cocky younger sister Toyah.
The character soon made a huge impact amongst fans as her first major storyline saw her being abducted by a stranger.
At the time, her character was seen as a controversial figure after she became the first female character to be involved in a storyline about under-age sex.
Later, she began a romantic relationship with Spider Nugent (Martin Hancock) in 1999, before he departed the soap the following year.
However, in one of the soaps most major storylines, Toyah was again at the centre after she was beaten and raped by Phil Simmonds (Jack Deam).
After winning awards for her performance – including the Best Dramatic Performance gong at The British Soap Awards – she decided to leave the ITV serial drama in 2002. Her character officially departed the show in February 20023.
She was absent for 13 years before the actress announced her return to the cobbles in December 2016, after first coming back to set four months before.
Her return storyline focussed on the end of her marriage to Toby Chapman (Andrew Dowbiggin) as she had an affair with Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne).
Since then, she made her desire to have more children known after trying to pass off another baby as her own. She said that the baby of Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) was the result of IVF treatment with Imran Habeeb (Charlie De Melo).
Their romance ended in heartbreak after she caused his death in a huge car accident. She was later found not guilty after she was arrested and charged with his murder.
Recent storylines have included the breakdown of her relationship with her sister Leanne after she becomes brainwashed and obsessed with the cult-like Altovalent Institute.
After she embarks on an affair with her sister’s fiance Nick, she is soon diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
He also says that if Nick does not manage to cough up, then he’ll have no choice but to reveal all about the affair.
This comes after Leanne will receive an interesting offer from her son Simon (Alex Bain) to go and visit him in Rotterdam.
He previously left the street and Weatherfield behind for a life abroad with his dad Peter (Chris Gascoyne).
However, Rowan will have other plans for her as suggests to her that the Institute want to fast-track her to level eight,
Leanne will be left completely torn, but a disengaged Nick will urge her to leave the country and go to Simon.
Will he get to spend the alone time he wants with Toyah?
Coronation Street is available to watch on ITV1 and ITVX.
