Coronation Street fans were left in shock last night as Rob Donovan returned having escaped from prison.
Appearing on today’s This Morning, actor Marc Bayliss told hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford not to rule out the possibility he could have pushed Ken Barlow down the stairs.
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The police are currently hunting the culprit of the crime, with all of Ken’s family in the frame for the assault.
But now Rob’s back on the Street, could he really have lashed out again? He has form after previously pushing Tina McIntyre off a balcony, before finishing her off with an iron bar?
Marc also revealed to Eamonn and Ruth that Rob has actually been back on the street for around THREE WEEKS and Tracy has been keeping him hidden.
That means he was in the area when Ken was attacked – so could his name be in the frame for the crime?
Marc admitted to the hosts that his character could definitely have been the one to push Mr Barlow, adding that they should start that rumour.
Rob is on the run after a car taking him to another prison crashed and he’s headed back to the Street (surely the first place police will look!) to see Tracy.
In last night’s scene, viewers saw Tracy creeping through the empty gym clearly expecting to meet someone.
“It’s only me, it’s alright,” she calls out into the darkness.
“Well I hope you’re proud of yourself because of you I’ve stuffed up another relationship. Well go on, say something.”
Then stepping forward out of the shadows, Rob emerges and says: “I suppose a bunk up is out of the question then?”
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Fans couldn’t believe what they were seeing and were fast to express their excitement on social media, with one fan shocked by his return admitting, “didn’t see that coming!” while another couldn’t wait until Friday to see what was going to happens next.
So what does this mean? Is Rob back on the Street permanently?
That remains to be seen, but Marc promises that viewers will be hooked by the ongoing storylines between Rob and Tracy.
“What will develop from this is that Rob is a very different person to the last time we saw him,” he says.
“A lot has occurred over the last 18 months and he was very angry and bitter at that point about the two women that he loved most in his life being responsible for him being sentenced to prison.
“So the anger that was underneath that whole storyline in which he threatened to reveal that Johnny was Carla’s dad is a very different Rob to what we see now.”
Marc also teased that Rob could be back on the cobbles for a longer spell.
Asked if there was the potential for him to be back permanently, he said: “I love playing the character, I love the show and if the producers and writers feel I have something I can offer to tell good stories on this show I’m 100 percent behind that.”
Marc also said that in an ideal world, he’d have Rob and Tracy live happily ever after. Though we reckon, knowing the Corrie scribes, that would be very unlikely.
“With Rob and Carla’s upbringing, there’s never really been any form of stability or family unit.
“Both characters had so much turmoil, which shaped their adulthood.
“They do desperately want a happy peaceful life, but because of their baggage it will never happen.
“The two up/two down with Tracy would be the dream.”
However, he does tease that over the next few weeks, viewers are in for a bit of turmoil as he and actress Kate Ford, who plays Tracy, try to tell their love story.
“It is doomed,” he says. “It’s a horrible scenario.
“If you’re in love as passionately as they are with each other, and it is genuine, the fact you know it can’t go anywhere – it’s kind of redundant in a way.
“But the feelings don’t stop just because it’s redundant, so that’s the struggle we’ve enjoyed playing.”
Although he says he is still filming scenes now, Marc is keeping his cards close to his chest about whether or not his current return will be his last.
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“I can’t say whether he’ll die,” he says. “I can’t say whether it will be possible for them to stay together.
“I would consider staying, of course, if that was on the table.
“I love the character and the show. I would always stay if there was a good story to tell.”
Oooh, we can’t wait to find out. Welcome back Marc!