Coronation Street’s Bethany Platt is set to be drawn further into sick boyfriend Nathan Curtis’s web when she agrees to marry him.
The controversial storyline has already seen Bethany fall hook, line and sinker for Nathan’s dubious charms, and even mum Sarah is letting the relationship run its course rather than intervening.
A lonely and vulnerable Bethany is flattered by the attentions of her older boyfriend, but she has no idea he’s planning to offer her out to his mates in a shock sex ring plot.
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As Nathan continues to groom the teen, it’s been reported she’ll end up being persuaded to go to bed with one of his friends, Neil.
We briefly saw Bethany chatting to Neil at Nathan’s party recently, and he expressed an interest to Nathan, who told his mate he’d be the first to know when Bethany was “ready”.
Sarah has met Nathan and is understandably not happy about the age difference between him and her daughter. But she’s so far decided to stay out of it rather than risk pushing her girl further away.
It’s a strategy that she starts to regret when she sees Bethany has updated her Facebook relationship status from ‘single’ to ‘engaged’.
It turns out Nathan’s even given Bethany a ring and she’s on cloud nine thinking she’s going to wed the man of her dreams.
She has no idea he’s going to become the man of her nightmares though, and even being coerced into giving him a false alibi to the police for the abduction of a girl didn’t set alarm bells ringing for her.
A show insider told The Mirror: “This is a disturbing storyline and it gets a lot worse before it’s going to get better.”
Corrie have been working very closely with the NSPCC on the plot, with a young girl who had been groomed in real life sharing her experiences with actors Lucy Fallon (Bethany) and Chris Harper (Nathan) as well as producers.
But despite the research, people are finding it uncomfortable viewing and some have even reported the show to Ofcom.
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The regulators have already said they won’t be investigating, and that the soap hasn’t done anything wrong so far.
Corrie boss Kate Oates has also defended her decision to run with the story saying they want to “encourage open discussion amongst friends and families about self-esteem, confidence and most importantly, safety”.