Coronation Street actor Jack P Shepherd has revealed that fans of the show have been supportive of his character David Platt’s traumatic rape storyline.
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Before the controversial plot aired many viewers slammed it for being too dark.
But Jack told Digital Spy that the reaction since it’s been on screen has been surprisingly positive.
He said: “Before the storyline started, the reaction was very negative. There were a lot of people saying: ‘This shouldn’t be on, this is terrible, this is shocking, I’m not going to watch this’.
“But since the storyline has started on screen, the response has actually been really positive. Everybody has said that Corrie is handling the story really well.”
Fans watched in horror as predatory Josh Tucker, played by Ryan Clayton, drugged David before dragging him back to his flat and raping him last month.
Since then David has struggled with his mental health, ending his relationship with Shona Ramsey and lashing out at Gary Windass leaving him with a brain bleed.
He hasn’t told anyone that Josh raped him, instead keeping his torment inside.
Jack went on to add that he doesn’t have any reservations about taking on such a heavy storyline as he trusts the writers and producers implicitly.
He revealed that David’s journey was set to be a long one when asked about his character’s future.
Jack said: “I think they say that on average it takes 25 years for a man to talk about it to anyone, let alone speak to the police.”
“Obviously we’re not going to keep the storyline going for 25 years – that’d be awful viewing – but that’s actually what happens.
“But obviously when the episodes went out where it happened to David, people did start talking.”
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It was revealed recently that since the rape episodes aired calls to rape charity Manchester Survivors had increased by 1,700 %.
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