Coronation Street's Joel star teases 'tough watch' over Lauren's pregnancy storyline

Coronation Street viewers were left utterly gobsmacked in the latest cliffhanger, as Lauren Bolton (played by Cait Fitton) was revealed to be very much alive, turning up beside Roy Cropper's (David Neilson) hospital bed after his harrowing heart attack.

The soap had previously led fans to believe that Lauren had met a grisly end at the hands of Joel Deering (Calum Lill) following a brutal altercation, but it turns out she had narrowly escaped death.

Lauren's dramatic reappearance on the cobbles saw her once again eluding the clutches of the villainous Joel, who had tried to force her into a hospital room with the help of a dodgy lawyer.

But the plot thickens even further as it transpires that Lauren is expecting Joel's child, leaving Corrie fans reeling. Actor Calum Lill divulged to OK! and other media that audiences should brace themselves for some harrowing scenes as Joel's vile grooming of Lauren threatens to be exposed, reports OK!.

"It's just proof that he doesn't need. Even if he manages to pull off that he just had consensual sex with her, his life is still over. The best case scenario of people finding out is that he loses his fiance Dee-Dee, who is his whole world anyway," Calum explained.

"Joel is incredibly selfish and driven to do whatever is in his own self-interest. I don't think we've seen the worst of him. We definitely haven't seen the worst of him yet," the actor ominously teased.

As the episode wrapped up, Lauren made another daring getaway. In the episodes to come, Joel's betrothed Dee-Dee joins forces with Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon) to search for her, as word gets out that Lauren paid a visit to Roy in the hospital.

"If Dee-Dee grabs her before Joel, his life will just crumble before his eyes," Calum teased.

"Even if she just finds out the fact the baby is his, everything is gone. The stakes are bigger than they've ever been, and I think desperate times call for desperate measures is what comes to mind with that."

"He's going to do whatever it takes to get to her first, and whatever he does next is probably going to be a tough watch."

Cait Fitton, who portrays Lauren Bolton, also confided to OK! about her character's sheer terror of Joel, knowing full well the lengths he could go to.

The soap star shared: "She's terrified, she's petrified, she knows what this man can do. She knows that he won't stop at anything, and now it's not just her she's got to worry about, it's the baby. Lauren doesn't care what happens to her now, as long as that baby's safe, that's all she cares about."

The drama continues to escalate, putting Joel and Dee-Dee's relationship on shaky ground, as Calum hints that Joel's dream soap wedding might be slipping away.

He said: "If I was a bookie, I'd say his chances are slim but he's very selfish, determined, driven, and seems to lack empathy so he's going to do whatever it takes to get to that wedding date and beyond it."

Calum ominously suggests that the path ahead will be fraught with difficulty: "What twists and turns that's going to take us down, I can't divulge but they're not going to be pleasant to watch," hinting that Joel will 'fight tooth and nail' to reach his goal.

Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.