By Stefania Sarrubba

Published: Tuesday, 24 January 2023 at 12:00 am

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Coronation Street’s Leanne Battersby will be in for a shock when she discovers newcomer Damon Hay‘s real identity.

Soap star Jane Danson has discussed her character’s friendship with Damon (Ciarán Griffiths) as they’re working at the Viaduct Bistro together.

Asked whether Leanne is “charmed” by Damon, Danson admitted she is fascinated by him in a way.

“I think she looks at his relationship with [his son] Jacob and how he seems to have turned over a new leaf,” the actress told RadioTimes.com and other press.

“She’s also got quite a lot going on in her life and he’s one of those characters that on the surface is quite a cheeky chappy and loveable, then underneath there’s an undercurrent of badness.”

This all changes once Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) reveals Damon is villain Harvey Gaskell‘s (Will Mellor) brother. Coronation Street fans will recall that Harvey is after Leanne as she’s worked as an informant for the police, landing him behind bars. During a dramatic escape from prison to track her down, Harvey ended up killing Natasha Blakeman (Rachel Leskovac) instead.

Of course, being lied to by Nick will have an impact on Leanne.

“After everything they went through with Oliver, then Jacob turning up… It all came on the back of such a traumatic time and they got through that,” Danson explained.

“Then just when she thought her life was back on track, she’s dealing with her grief and getting over the Harvey situation, this happens. It’s almost like it just comes back to hit her in the face, because of the one person she trusted more than anybody.”

For his part, Damon will try to convince Leanne that he’s “nothing like his brother”.

“Even though she’s pretty angry about the whole thing she kind of accepts it, I guess she has no choice,” Danson continued.

While it isn’t clear where the professional and personal relationship between Leanne and Damon will stand after this big reveal, it seems that the foundations of her marriage with Nick will become shaky.

“Going forward, it will be interesting to see if Nick and Leanne can patch their relationship up.

“She needs space to work out how she feels because… she’s not had the chance to digest everything that’s happened. It’s a big thing to forgive but Nick and Leanne have got through a lot over the years so who knows.”