LAST night’s instalment on Coronation Street saw a huge twist as Lauren Bolton made a huge return.
ITV soap fans previously thought she was brutally killed by corrupt lawyer Joel Deering (Calum Lill).
In dramatic scenes, Roy Cropper (David Neilson) was confronted by a group of yobs outside the cafe.
He was initially saved by Carla Connor (Alison King), before later suffering a heart attack.
Shona (Julia Goulding) and Nina (Mollie Gallagher) were both completely panicked as he was rushed to hospital and put in intensive care.
When they weren’t looking, a mysterious hooded female figure snuck into his room while Roy was asleep and in recovery.
The mystery person unmasked herself, and viewers were shocked to see a devastated Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton), who apologised to Roy as he slept.
In a behind-the-scenes video posted onto the soap’s official Instagram account, the actress teased that there is still far more to come.
She explained: “I’m back, Lauren is back, she’s alive.
“It’s been a really long time coming, but I’m finally back, i’m absolutely buzzing to be back.
“I just wanna say a massive thank you to everyone who’s reached out and shown the support whilst Lauren’s been off screen and while I’ve been away.
“I have seen everything. I’ve seen the edits, the comments, the messages. I’ve not been able to respond to them because everything has been so underwraps and so secretive.
“Now, I just wanna say I have seen them all and I’m so, so grateful for all the support you guys have given me.
She added: “So make sure you tune in tomorrow night to see exactly where Lauren’s been and the real reason behind her disappearance.”
However, viewers were left utterly enraged that the character seemingly returned from the dead, as they alleged that the storyline just did not make sense.
One fan raged: “All this time she wasn’t dead? Lol. U lot seriously need to go back to the drawing board. Got bored of that storyline after 2 weeks.”
Corrie has said goodbye to several cast members this year. Let's break down who's left the famous soap:
Eliza Woodrow (Savannah Kunyo) has said farewell to Corrie to start a new life in Germany.
The youngster moved to live with her dad Dom Everett, who went back on the £10,000 bribe Eliza’s grandfather Stu had offered to keep him out of her life.
Paul Foreman will bow out of the soap this summer when he loses his fight with motor neurone disease (MND) in tragic scenes.
After being diagnosed last year, the fan favourite, portrayed by Peter Ash, was devastated to learn he only had months left to live.
Viewers know he is planning to take his own life to end his suffering.
Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby) departed the cobbles after being offered the opportunity of a lifetime to study in America.
Though she struggled to decide with her stepdad Paul’s impending death from MND, she was convinced she had to live her life to the full.
Simon Barlow (Alex Bain) has struggled with the sudden departure of his father Peter from the cobbles.
The Weatherfield legend left his family and loved ones behind on Boxing Day, 2023, when his wife Carla Connor encouraged him to travel around the world with a friend.
Simon’s been on a downward spiral ever since and his exit could end in tragedy.
Alya Nazir is set to leave the cobbles as actress Sair Khan prepares to go on maternity leave ahead of the birth of her first child.
It looks likely she’ll be heading to Dublin after securing a lucrative new job, leaving her colleague and fling Adam Barlow behind.
Show stalwart Eileen Grimshaw is taking a break to star in the Sister Act The Musical UK tour.
She’s had to leave the Street immediately after her son Jason broke his back after falling off a moped in Asia. She will be back filming in May once her dates on the tour come to an end.
Another commented: “This storyline hasn’t been Coronation Street best I’m afraid. The show has gone way to wacky. No more serial killers and back the comedy that’s what this show is known for in the past. Stop making Coronation Street into Eastenders.”
“Seriously think that #corrie should hold bgt style auditions to employ writers ! You really couldn’t make this c** up ! Roy was probably hoping he’d Kark it to escape the dismal stories !” noted a third user.
As a fourth angrily asked: “What the actual hell is going on how and why is she alive and what about the dude that apparently killed her?”
Whilst someone else stated: “So Joel caves her head in and now she comes back? Who writes these stories? Is this the walking dead?”
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And a sixth viewer added: “No evidence of her having been killed. No body. That’s why the whole stupid saga of Roy being inside was so ridiculous. Just the crime obsessed writers driving viewers away.”
This comes after Coronation Street viewers previously saw Joel supposedly beat the vulnerable girl to death in a brutal attack.
In recent scenes, he also appeared in the hospital ward to comfort the friends of his fiancee Dee-Dee (Channique Sterling-Brown), who was also Roy’s lawyer.
Soap fans saw the villain immediately give out a worried expression as he noted the presence of the camouflaged person.
Lauren’s disappearance led to a highly-criticised storyline where Roy was arrested on suspicion of her apparent killing.
The cafe owner was wrongly imprisoned in a ‘farcical’ move for her alleged murder, despite a lack of evidence, which left fans utterly enraged.