Coronation Street Spoilers – Billy And Paul Wed In A Corrie First

Next week’s episode of Coronation Street will feature the wedding of Billy and Paul, and actor Peter Ash discusses Paul’s MND storyline thus far.

In the midst of a difficult few months, Billy (Daniel Brocklebank) and Paul (Peter Ash) will exchange vows in a civil ceremony that will likely be the first (successful) gay wedding on the show.

The couple got engaged in July, two months after Paul received his motor neurone disease diagnosis. In recent weeks, the condition has gotten worse to the point where Paul now requires a wheelchair to get around.

At a recent press conference, Peter described the situation as “like a beacon of bright light” given everything else he is currently dealing with. Despite all the bad news he’s received since the diagnosis, it’s something so positive to look forward to. It’s exactly what Billy wants to do with his remaining time, so getting to marry him is ideal.

Even though he put on a brave face for Paul’s sake, Archdeacon Billy has been deeply affected by the fact that they won’t be able to have a religious ceremony.

According to Peter, Paul is very familiar with Billy and can tell when Billy is trying to play down his disappointment over being unable to get married in a church. “Shelly’s death brought out Paul’s faith—at the funeral he sort of had a spiritual moment—so wanting to get married at a church is a little bit more of a priority now for Paul.”

However, Billy is the reason he primarily wants to do it; Billy has dedicated his life to the church and is aware that’s where he wants to get married. It’s a little disappointing, especially given the regulations prohibiting the use of religious music. Billy is downplaying it, but Paul is aware of his anger.

On Monday morning, as the wedding day approaches, Paul gets assistance from his mother Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove) and twin sister Gemma (Dolly-Rose Campbell) at No. 5, while the wedding guests take their seats in the Viaduct Bistro.

Bernie and Gemma support Paul as he makes his way down the aisle toward Billy, who is beaming with happiness, at his request.

According to Peter, “We’ve seen so many scenes of things being devastating and hopeless.” So it was a breath of fresh air to film the wedding. Working with great people on such a lovely day was a lot of fun.

The two tearfully exchange heartfelt vows, before the registrar finally announces them to be married.

Billy is shocked, though, to learn that Paul had been keeping a significant secret from him after the ceremony. Will the bombshell have the potential to strengthen their relationship or to end it?

Later on in the week, when Paul overhears Billy making a resentful comment, there is a chance for more heartache. Paul, Billy, and Summer (Harriet Bibby) discover that their new wheelchair won’t fit through the door to their apartment after receiving it.

Billy is anxious as one of his parishioners, Babs, approaches—the news of his marriage now being known—as they call in Ed Bailey (Trevor Michael Georges) to take a look at the doorway. Babs surprises him by giving him a bottle of champagne and congratulating him on his marriage.

Billy is however brought back to reality when he later runs into another parishioner named Vaughn, who tells him that he ought to be ashamed of himself. Billy, furious at the bigotry, tells him not to worry because his husband is going to die anyhow. Billy is unaware that Paul has heard everything, though.

Paul’s relationship with Billy has undoubtedly changed as a result of the progression of his MND, and Peter thinks that Paul is now becoming more understanding of that.

Billy is a wonderful caregiver, and all he wants to do is take care of Paul, just as you would if you were with someone who had that condition, says Peter. “However, it is clear that from Paul’s perspective, Billy is the caregiver and Paul is the patient. Paul wants things to go back to how they were and for their relationship to just be a regular one, but sadly that is not possible.

Peter continues, “Paul does need Billy’s assistance with things right now. “At first, it’s a matter of pride; it can be difficult to accept help at times. Although it can still be annoying, I believe we’ve reached a stage where Paul is much more receptive to Billy’s assistance. There was undoubtedly a time when Paul felt like too much of a patient, but he has always understood where it comes from, from a place of wanting to help out as much as he can.

After Paul had earlier asked Billy if he would be willing to help him end his own life when the time came, the day of the proposal had been emotionally taxing. Billy was horrified at the idea of assisted suicide because he is a devout man.

“It not only goes against his own personal moral stance, but also his role as an Archdeacon is very much about celebrating the life they’ve got left rather than terminating it,” Dan Brocklebank explained to us at the time. “He wants them to have more time together, not less. So he’s absolutely horrified that Paul is even considering it. Billy is very fixated on the fact that Paul isn’t christened and now he wants to end his life so he is worried that he may not go to heaven and they won’t see each other in the afterlife.”

Paul confided in Todd (Gareth Pierce) that he still views assisted dying as his only remaining option, despite having made a promise to Billy that he would forget about it and move on when Shelly died alone in her apartment.

“He will have the guilt of hiding something from Billy,” Peter explains as he talks about the start of their married life. “But he knows how Billy would react to that. Obviously they have talked about it when it was brought up earlier, and was quashed when they decided to get married”

“Shelly’s passing brings it all back to Paul, who is determined to go out on his own terms due to the fact that he knows she died alone. Before he loses his ability to speak, Paul really wants to do that.

The first item on Paul’s bucket list raised a few eyebrows among the audience a couple of weeks ago, but the show has promised that we’ll be exploring more of it in the future.

“The skinny-dipping at the lake was fun, we were out for the whole day filming up at Knowsley,” Peter reveals. “It was a beautiful day, the water was great, but got a bit cold towards the end!”

“I’m glad they didn’t zoom in on that,” he laughs. “We were basically wearing flesh-coloured short pants, whilst the crew were in their wetsuits and everything. The response [from the audience] was amazing.”

Skydiving is mentioned when the subject of what else Peter would like to see Paul do is raised, and he most definitely wouldn’t rule it out!

“That’d be fun, though I don’t know how we’d shoot that one,” he muses. “I wish they would travel somewhere nice… a week away, in the Caribbean or something… Paul hasn’t actually traveled abroad, in my opinion. He once said that Wales was the furthest he had traveled. So it would be nice to advance a little.

Although Peter and the show are determined to accurately depict the physical progression of the disease, Paul’s story still has a ways to go.

“It’s been a challenge,” Peter admits. “It’s another layer to think about I guess as you’re acting, to be aware of those parts of your body that aren’t going to be working. All of us from the beginning have said we really want to get this as right as possible. There are real people living with this so we don’t want to misrepresent it, we want to show it with honesty and truthfulness.”

“The MND association have been amazing, just a phone call away if I need to ask them about any new symptoms that come up in the story, and of course they’re constantly in touch with the storyliners and dealing with every aspect of Paul’s story.”

And the reaction so far from the Corrie viewers?

“They’ve been above and beyond anything I’d imagined, it’s been so lovely,” Peter tells us. “We get messages from people who are living with it, and people with family members who have MND, who are saying bits of the story really resonate with them. Honestly, if through this storyline we can raise some awareness, and a bit of money for the cause, then that’s a job well done as far as I’m concerned.“