Coronation Street 'exit' as fans 'work out' Joel Deering teams up with 'corrupt' resident in killer twist

Monday's episode of Coronation Street was brimming with suspense, and it appears Dee-Dee Bailey (portrayed by Channique Sterling-Brown) is inching closer to uncovering some dark truths about her partner Joel Deering (played by Calum Lill). The show recently revealed that Joel was behind the mysterious vanishing of Lauren Bolton (played by Cait Fitton), after leaving her to die.

When Lauren made an unexpected return to Weatherfield, a shocking twist came to light when Joel found out she was expecting and sought to end her life by spiking her drink, in a harrowing attempt to terminate the pregnancy. Despite his vile efforts, Lauren went into early labour and the baby miraculously survived.

Dee-Dee had begun to suspect something amiss when she learned that Joel had lied about where he procured a piece of jewellery for Lauren. But, during the latest episode, Dee-Dee started to connect the dots after finding out which jewellers supplied the necklace.

The plot thickened in the hospital when Dee-Dee was hit with the bombshell that Joel is the father of Lauren's child and that he was present as Lauren began her premature labour.

But unknown to both Lauren and Dee-Dee, Joel was eavesdropping from just outside the hospital room, hearing every detail of their conversation.

While discussing why she couldn't get help during her premature labour, Dee-Dee confronted Lauren with a chilling question: "Knowing the power you would have over him for the rest of his life...Lauren, could Joel have given you something to make you go into labour?"

"What? " Lauren said, obviously horrified, as Dee-Dee exclaimed: "Could he have given you something?"

While Lauren pondered the possibility, she recalled a moment when Joel had prepared her something to eat and intently watched her consume it before his departure. Following that meal, she unexpectedly went into labour," reports the Manchester Evening News.

In subsequent scenes, we see Dee-Dee accompanying Lauren to the police station to report Joel. However, they're greeted by the sight of Joel already there, preemptively telling police that he was intimately involved with Lauren "before she disappeared".

Upon being asked why he'd withheld this crucial information earlier, Joel confessed, saying: "Mate, I didn't want my fiance finding out."

As the episode drew to its dramatic conclusion, Joel found himself under arrest by none other than DS Swain (Victoria Myers). Yet, just as DS Swain made her move, Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) stepped in with a bombshell, claiming Joel said Lauren had taken abortion pills.

Firmly standing his ground, Joel claimed: "She has been trying to take me down," even as a tearful Lauren vehemently denied it, crying out: "No, I haven't. I would never hurt my baby."

Their fiery confrontation escalates as Lauren yells back: "You're a liar, you're a liar," only to be interrupted by DS Swain who solemnly informs her: "I am sorry to do this, but I am going to have to ask you a few more questions under caution."

The tense hour-long episode sparked speculation among viewers, who flooded the comments section with theories about the show's direction.

A sizeable faction of fans is convinced Joel might end up killing Dee-Dee, and another camp speculates that Kit might throw Joel a lifeline, shielding him from legal repercussions. A user on X voiced a prediction: "Joel is going to kill DeeDee... #corrie."

"Don't get yourself killed Dee Dee. We like you #Corrie," one viewer tweeted, while another added their voice: "#corrie Joel will murder somebody before he leaves the show."

Another fan chimed in with a prediction: "Oh, he's broken the sneer of death out, someone is gonna get it #Corrie."

Meanwhile, a different viewer expressed confusion: "I'd forgotten that Kit falsified evidence. Why? He's an odd one," and another pointed out: "Kit is a dirty cop. Of course, he believes Joel #Corrie."

One more comment from the audience speculated: "Kit is gonna be on his side cos otherwise he will be in trouble with planting evidence to get Nathan sent down #corrie."

Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.