CORONATION Street fans think they’ve deduced the ‘real father’ of Alina Pop’s baby.
The character – played by Ruxandra Porojnicu – made her shock return to the cobbles this week, having last appeared in 2021.
Viewers will remember how Tyrone (Alan Halsall) momentarily left Fiz (Jennie McAlpine) for Alina a few years back.
During Wednesday’s (August 7) episode, Fiz encountered her former love rival at the supermarket and spotted a photo of a little boy on her phone.
Although Fiz believed Tyrone is the boy’s father, fans had their own theories.
Taking to Reddit, one wrote: “He looks way too old to be Tyrone’s kid??? Imagine if Seb was the dad and she’d been keeping the baby hidden…”
Meanwhile, over on a Corrie-focused Facebook page, another viewer pondered: “Do you think Alina’s baby is Tyrone’s?”
A third replied: “Didn’t she go with Seb tho?”
While someone else wrote: “That’s true, that would be a good twist!”
When first introduced in 2019, Alina was part of a storyline involving a human trafficking ring.
After being saved by Seb Franklin (Harry Visnoni), she fled the country to reunite with her family in Romania but returned to Coronation Street a short time later.
After she became romantically involved with much-older Tyrone and fell pregnant, his daughter Hope (Isabelle Flanagan) wasn’t impressed.
Determined to split them up, the youngster lit a fire in the salon flat which caused Alina to tragically miscarry the unborn baby.
But when the young woman fell pregnant with Tyrone’s baby again, he admitted that he wanted to get back together with Fiz, leaving her heartbroken.
Alina then left the cobbles in September 2021 and told Tyrone that she was returning to Romania to raise their child alone.
Tyrone managed to stop her and said he was determined to be a part of his child’s life.
LOVE triangles are a fundamental part of soap-land, but which ones have become the most iconic?
EASTENDERS
Bradley/Stacey/Max: Stacey Slater began an affair with boyfriend Bradley Branning’s dad Max in 2007.
Despite their romps, Stacey still married Bradley, but their deceit came out in an iconic Christmas Day episode that year.
Grant/Sharon/Phil: Heading even further back in Walford history, EastEnders fans were gripped in the 90s as Sharon Watts had a one-night stand with her brother-in-law Phil Mitchell.
Sharon confided in best friend Michelle Fowler – not realising it was caught on tape – and her husband Grant eventually found out and played it in front of everyone at the Queen Vic.
Syed/Amira/Christian: Syed Masood was engaged to Amira before realising he had feelings for another man, Christian, which he confessed to him on his wedding day.
A devout Muslim, Syed refused to admit his true sexuality and went ahead and married Amira anyway, but when they returned, the two men started an affair before being caught in the act by Amira.
CORONATION STREET
Shelley/Peter/Lucy: Peter Barlow took the concept of a love triangle and ran with it in Coronation Street – extending it to bigamy.
He was in a relationship with Shelley Unwin but started dating Lucy Richards, and quickly married her after she fell pregnant with his son, Simon.
But it didn’t stop him also marrying Shelley, but he was eventually caught when Lucy turned up in Weatherfield and the two women confronted him.
Ken/Deidre/Mike: Back in 1982, Deirdre Barlow started sleeping with her husband’s nemesis Mike Baldwin in secret, before confessing all a year later.
When Mike turned up at the marital home, Deirdre was being throttled by her husband who then kicked her out, but years later they reconciled.
Maria/Aidan/Eva: In 2017, Aidan Connor started sleeping with girlfriend Eva Price’s best friend, Maria Connor.
Eva eventually found out and she decided to take revenge by faking a pregnancy, spending his money and planned to confront him on their wedding day.
But she had a change of heart when a remorseful Aidan confessed, and decided to marry him anyway, only for Maria to arrive and expose her fake pregnancy.
EMMERDALE
Ross/Debbie/Pete: Debbie Dingle found herself torn between two brothers, Ross and Pete Barton in 2015 in Emmerdale.
She eventually decided to marry Pete but yet again, a soap wedding day was ruined when the groom learned of his bride’s betrayal via a recording played at the wedding.
Chrissie/Robert/Aaron: Robert Sugden was married to Chrissie White and all seemed well – until he began a steamy affair with Aaron Dingle.
Robert’s ex Katie Sugden almost exposed the affair – but fell to her death before she had the chance.
However, a guilty Aaron eventually cracked and told Chrissie about the affair – after which she announced it to the whole pub.
The soon-to-be mother insisted that she wasn’t pregnant after all and departed the ITV soap.
Shortly before boarding her flight, viewers saw her cradling a blossoming baby bump.
What does Alina’s reappearance mean for Tyrone and Fiz moving forward?
Coronation Street airs on ITV1 and is available to watch on ITVX.
