Tonight’s Coronation Street saw twists and turns aplenty, as Dee-Dee finally discovered the horrific truth about fiancé Joel Deering.
Seemingly mild-mannered solicitor Joel (Calum Lill) has been leading a double life since arriving on the cobbles last September, with viewers recently learning that he’s an abusive groomer of teenage girls, and was responsible for the brutal attack on Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton).
Lauren’s subsequent disappearance caused a murder inquiry to be launched, with Roy (David Neilson) inadvertently coming under the spotlight and locked up. Roy had hoped that the details he remembered about Lauren’s necklace, given to her by a “rich boyfriend” could help his case, but in the end the discovery of Lauren’s DNA in the van of recently-released trafficker Nathan Curtis (Christopher Harper) secured Roy’s release.
Hearing that Roy had suffered a heart attack, Lauren made a dramatic return to Weatherfield to secretly visit him in hospital, where she was spotted by Joel. He was stunned when she admitted that she was five months pregnant with his child, knowing that the baby would prove his relationship with her. Joel reluctantly arranged for Lauren to stay in his old flat, whilst promising to arrange for her to move to Belfast.
In one of his wickedest acts to date, Joel drugged Lauren and locked her in his flat, in the hope of inducing labour so that she would lose the baby. Thankfully, Max came by and heard Lauren’s screams, and Frankie was born healthy, though premature.
Meanwhile, Dee-Dee (Channique Sterling-Brown) has started to suspect that Joel isn’t the man she thought he was. His lies about a jewellers receipt she discovered in December has been playing on her mind, after discovering that it wasn’t a charm bracelet for his daughter Maeve as claimed. She had also discovered his recent flight bookings to Belfast, and Joel’s ex-wife warned Dee-Dee that Joel was still paying for his old flat.
In tonight’s episode, Dee-Dee was able to remember the name of the jewellers she saw on the receipt, and narrowing their catalogue down to items worth £300, she was stunned to find Lauren’s necklace staring back at her.
DS Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) has also had Joel on her radar after discovering that he was the duty solicitor that represented Lauren last year, and when Dee-Dee asks her if Joel ever passed on the info Roy gave her about the necklace, she had no idea what she was talking about. Showing him the photo, Roy confirmed to Dee-Dee that it was indeed the same necklace.
When Dee-Dee went to visit Lauren and Frankie, her fears were further confirmed when Lauren let slip that she was hoping to move to Belfast soon.
Dee-Dee brought the coincidence up with Joel but he laughed it off, pointing out he could have given his unused ticket to Lauren if he’d known, and he kept his cool when she asked whether he’d ever heard anything back about the necklace.
A suspicious Dee-Dee then followed Joel after seeing him speed off in his car, and found herself right back at Weatherfield General Hospital. As she spied Joel talking with Lauren through the door of Frankie’s room, she finally came to shocking realisation that her fiancé was Frankie’s father.
Dee-Dee was overwhelmed as memories of the past few months came flooding back, showing all the signs that were there. But by the time she came to her senses, Joel had come out of the room and spotted her. As Dee-Dee wiped away her tears and put on a brave face, Joel explained that he decided to pop in whilst he was passing, and apparently went on his way.
Alone with Lauren, Dee-Dee quizzed Lauren about Joel, and finally got her to admit that Joel was Frankie’s father after presenting all the evidence.
Unbeknownst to them both, Joel was standing outside the room, hearing every word of Lauren’s confession.
Although devastated by Joel’s betrayal, Dee-Dee was still unaware of Joel’s true nature until Lauren defiantly told Dee-Dee that she didn’t want her baby anywhere near someone like Joel.
Lauren explained how he had kept coming back for more after they first slept together, eventually beginning to hurt her. Dee-Dee was horrified when Lauren then confirmed that Joel had been the man who attacked her.
As Lauren broke down, she told her that Joel had warned her that no-one would believe her over him. It was Dee-Dee who then put two and two together and realised Joel’s most evil act, asking Lauren what happened the day she went into labour.
After Dee-Dee asked Lauren if Joel could have given her something, Lauren suddenly remembered that he had prepared her some food shortly before she was ‘accidentally’ locked in. Lauren’s blood ran cold as the full truth suddenly hit them both like a ton of bricks.
Not realising that Joel had heard every word and was one step ahead of them, Dee-Dee took Lauren down to the police station to give a statement to Lisa. Although she was unable to act as her legal representative, Dee-Dee supported Lauren in the interview room as she relayed all the details of Joel’s crimes.
Lauren felt stupid for getting involved with Joel in the first place, but Lisa assured her she was not to blame.
“He preyed on you,” Lisa told her. “He took advantage of you when you were at your most vulnerable.”
“She’s right,” an emotional Dee-Dee confirmed. “He groomed you. Lauren.”
Meanwhile, in the next room Joel was already talking to Kit (Jacob Roberts), making his own claims about his ‘relationship’ with Lauren.
Lauren was terrified when she and Dee-Dee returned to the foyer to find Joel there with Kit. As Lisa went to arrest Joel for grievous bodily harm, Kit simultaneously asked Lauren to come with him for questioning.
Kit explained Joel’s allegations, that Lauren had procured and taken illegal abortion drugs whilst trying to bring down Joel.
“You’re a liar,” Lauren screamed at Joel as he was led away to the cells, as an apologetic Lisa had no choice but to ask Lauren to return to the interview room under caution.
As the episode came to an end, Dee-Dee returned to the street and broke down in father Ed’s (Trevor Michael Georges) arms, the full trauma of the day having caught up with her.
Will Joel be brought to justice?
“Dee-Dee is hellbent on bringing Joel down now,” Channique Sterling-Brown explains following the shock reveal. “It’s actually not just a personal crusade, she’s absolutely horrified to find out the truth of who he is and what he has done. I think Dee-Dee subconsciously has to stay busy as if she stops and takes note of what has happened, her whole life would fall apart.”
“She’s going to throw herself into trying to get justice for his victims, deflecting from her feelings and conflict with herself, and feelings for this person she loved and who still loves her. It’s a really complicated thing but her main aim is trying to get justice for those involved.“
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