{"id":52116,"date":"2024-05-25T10:05:39","date_gmt":"2024-05-25T08:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2046512"},"modified":"2024-05-25T10:41:24","modified_gmt":"2024-05-25T08:41:24","slug":"coronation-streets-lucy-fallon-teases-bethany-platts-role-in-soaps-huge-lauren-week","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/coronation-streets-lucy-fallon-teases-bethany-platts-role-in-soaps-huge-lauren-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronation Street\u2019s Lucy Fallon teases Bethany Platt\u2019s role in soap\u2019s huge Lauren week"},"content":{"rendered":"

The star talks exclusively to Johnathon Hughes about what’s in store on the cobbles. <\/p>

By Johnathon Hughes\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 25 May 2024 at 08:00 AM<\/p>

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After months of speculation, conspiracy theories and even a social media campaign to prove Roy Cropper\u2019s innocence, the mystery of what happened to missing Weatherfield teenager Lauren Bolton is finally set to be solved \u2013 with Bethany Platt leading the crusade for justice.<\/p>\n

Coronation Street<\/a> kicks off a big week on Monday 28th May with episodes showing across five consecutive nights<\/a> that reveal the fate of troubled adolescent Lauren, who vanished back in February, and if a killer is stalking the cobbles. As far as Bethany\u2019s concerned, she knows exactly who\u2019s responsible for Lauren\u2019s demise \u2013 but has she got the wrong guy? In an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com<\/a>, Corrie star Lucy Fallon, who plays Bethany, reveals why her character is so sure she\u2019s cracked the case\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moment Bethany saw Nathan Curtis at the reconstruction of Lauren\u2019s last sighting, she\u2019s been convinced he murdered her,\u201d says Fallon, who returned to the role of Bethany in December after nearly four years away. \u201cNathan was jailed seven years ago for grooming and abusing Bethany but was recently released. Seeing him again is triggering and she\u2019s become obsessed with putting him back behind bars where he belongs, and where he can\u2019t harm anyone else. Bethany wants Nathan to be guilty so he returns to prison, but she can\u2019t see beyond the fact it might not actually be him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nasty Nathan ran a sleazy child sexual exploitation ring, so he\u2019s got form when it comes to preying on vulnerable young girls. He\u2019s certainly one of DS Swain\u2019s prime suspects, but then so are half the men in Manchester, including kindly Roy, and Bethany\u2019s boyfriend Daniel Osbourne, who privately tutored tearaway Lauren which sparked unfounded rumours of an inappropriate fling that went awry.<\/p>\n

\"Chris\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Lucy Fallon as Bethany Platt and Rob Mallard as Daniel Osbourne in Coronation Street are faced with the return of Nathan.<\/span><\/figcaption> ITV\/Danielle Baguley<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Whoever turns out to be behind Lauren\u2019s vanishing act, Nathan\u2019s presence is definitely unwelcome. It has stirred up painful memories for Bethany of the darkest time of her life, and caused conflict with those closest to her, including mum Sarah Barlow, who tried to pay off and plant evidence on her daughter\u2019s abuser to banish him. Nathan\u2019s return is a stark reminder that Bethany still carries this nightmare with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will always be there, it\u2019s something she can never get over,\u201d sighs Fallon. \u201cWorking with Christopher Harper (who plays Nathan) again was really nice, but weird as it felt like we\u2019d gone back in time seven years! When I did the story in 2017 I spoke to charities who put me in touch with a lot of people this had genuinely happened to, remembering them this time round made it easier to bring those emotions to the surface. Bethany and I are both older now, so playing her reaction to seeing Nathan again from a grown-up perspective came quite naturally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe grooming storyline was the most rewarding thing I did as an actor from when I was in the show before so I was pleased to revisit it. And when Corrie spoke to the charity they worked with last time, they learnt it\u2019s actually quite common for survivors to just bump into their abusers when they\u2019re released from prison. Bethany didn\u2019t know Nathan was out as the letters informing her had gone to an old address. It\u2019s interesting to show the impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lucy\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Lucy Fallon in a flashback scene to Bethany Platt\u2019s grooming storyline in a bar with Nathan and other men.<\/span><\/figcaption> ITV<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Bethany\u2019s hard-hitting exploitation plot was based on the real-life Rochdale child abuse sex trafficking case from 2012, which exposed a horrifying network of abusers targeting underage girls (the Bafta-winning BBC series Three Girls was a direct dramatisation of the events).<\/p>\n

It elevated Fallon to A-list Corrie star status, rightly earning critical plaudits and numerous awards for her engaging performance, which heartbreakingly captured the trauma of lost innocence. \u00a0A few years earlier, she became the first actress to play Bethany as a grown-up, when the character returned to the Street as a minxy teenager with mum Sarah after eight years abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cBethany was quite feisty and unlikable at first, then started getting bullied at school and began taking diet pills to deal with her growing vulnerability. Eventually, I was told this would lead to her being groomed which became this big story arc. I don\u2019t think I really understood the magnitude of what was to come, and it was quite overwhelming. I was only 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing part of the Platt family meant I had good people around me who were always supportive and helpful. Tina (O\u2019Brien, who plays Sarah) and I have always been super close, especially since I\u2019ve come back to the show. My go-to person if I ever needed honest, level-headed advice was Ben Price (who plays Nick Tilsley, Bethany\u2019s uncle).<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember my first day on Corrie, I was barely 19 and completely terrified! I sat on the sofa with Helen Worth (who plays Bethany\u2019s granny Gail Rodwell) and she had her arm around me for the entire day, both as Gail during the scenes and as herself in between takes! It made me feel I was going to be fine with these amazing people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lucy\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Lucy Fallon as Bethany Platt returned late last year.<\/span><\/figcaption> ITV<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

In 2020, Fallon left the role hoping to spread her professional wings, which unfortunately coincided with the industry effectively shutting down as Covid hit. \u201cYes, I left and we went into a global pandemic, what great timing! Once things opened up again I did a few jobs then had a baby (Fallon is mum to a one-year-old boy, Sonny, with her partner Ryan Ledson, a professional footballer with Preston North End), and I was getting to the point of panic about putting myself back out there and starting to audition again. I felt so much dread and anxiety about it. Out of the blue my agent contacted me while I was on holiday with Ryan and Sonny, asking if I\u2019d be interested if Corrie wanted me to go back. I immediately said yes, it was such a relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing was perfect in terms of where I am in my life. I always appreciated the job before, but even more so now. And I don\u2019t regret leaving when I did, if I hadn\u2019t then a lot of things in my life now would be really different. Everything happens for a reason and I\u2019m pleased to be back, it\u2019s good for me personally to be able to come to work then go home to my little boy and my partner. And some of my closest friends are here and I get to see them every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans have been granted a glimpse into Fallon\u2019s off-screen life in the ITV reality show Drama Queens, as one of the soap stars being followed by a camera crew to document what they get up to when they\u2019re not filming. It really is access all areas, honestly portraying the balancing act of being a working mum and opening up about intensely personal topics, including the miscarriage Fallon and Ledson experienced before having Sonny. Did she have any misgivings about sharing something so private?<\/p>\n

\"Lucy\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Lucy Fallon attends the Inside Soap Awards 2023 at Salsa! on September 25, 2023 in London, England.<\/span><\/figcaption> Mike Marsland\/WireImage<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cThe miscarriage is part of our journey and as a subject, it\u2019s not always talked about. At the time it was very emotional and raw and I didn\u2019t address it publicly, but it\u2019s different talking about it a little bit later on. People appreciate you being honest about what you\u2019ve been through, and there were thousands of comments online from women sharing similar experiences. The response was amazing like it was to Bethany\u2019s grooming storyline, people can relate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed Drama Queens. I wasn\u2019t sure it was something I wanted to be part of at first but I like how nothing on the show is orchestrated by the production team, they film me doing something that was already happening and haven\u2019t tried to create fake relationships between the women involved. We all made it clear it has to show our actual lives. Ryan loved it too, he keeps asking about a second series! He reckons he\u2019ll get his own spin-off show\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The fictional drama is set to continue for Fallon\u2019s beleaguered alter ego, even after we learn if Bethany was right to point the finger at predatory Nathan in the hunt for Lauren. Fallon is clearly happy to stick around on the Street for the foreseeable future, and eager to get her teeth into the next challenge \u2013 which it appears producers have already lined up for her. Beyond Corrie\u2019s blockbuster week, she teases there are huge things on the horizon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I\u2019ve got a big storyline coming off the back of what\u2019s on screen now,\u201d she whispers. \u201cIt\u2019s something very different to what Bethany has gone through before, and I feel like it\u2019s going to be emotional\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n