We haven’t been this soap-relieved since Deirdre came out of prison – as it looks like Corrie’s Rita might be getting a reprieve!
Did we manage to #saveRita?
While viewers thought that Corrie’s Rita’s increasing memory loss was a sign that she had a brain tumour, Friday night’s episodes showed that it was actually caused by her recent medication.
Meaning that Rita might be selling pens/ sweets/ magazines that look a bit like real ones but with slightly different names for many years to come.
But while we all got a bit excited that 84 year-old Barbara Knox might have got a reprieve, viewers were a bit worried that our joy was misplaced, and there’s more to come from the storyline.
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One wrote on Twitter: “Think maybe Rita knows she’s got a problem and is blaming her tablets.”
Another wrote: “Is Rita telling the truth? Not convinced”
Why are they ruining it for us?
Others though, thought that maybe the newspapers had got the facts wrong. We like these people! Optimists!
“Is Rita telling the truth though and the papers were wrong that it’s a brain tumour ?” one asked.
Earlier this year, Corrie big boss Kate Oates told The Express that Rita’s storyline would be hard-hitting.
“We’ve also got the heartbreaking story with Rita, and we are reminded how amazing the great Barbara Knox is and how lucky we are to have her,” Kate said.
A source told The Sun that rather than the dementia storyline that people predicted, it would actually take a different turn.
“In fact, she will be diagnosed with a tumour and her doctors will say there is a serious risk she will die if they don’t remove it. But Rita is terrified that she could not know who she is, or recognise her friends,” a source told the newspaper.
“All the indications are that this will end tragically.”
Then again, maybe people power has saved the Corrie stalwart and writers have changed the scripts, since a social media campaign to #saveRita did see the hashtag trending.
Unlike Free Deirdre, it’s not yet reached parliament but, er, there are some quite big things going on in the world so that’s probably reasonable.
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Viewers were pretty worried that Rita’s memory loss was leading to a storyline that would see her leave the cobbles for good, and retire from soap.
So what do we reckon? Is this a reprieve? Or is she lying and it’s still the end of Rita’s nightly boozing down the Rovers with her crew?