ITV Coronation Street star breaks silence as soap future revealed amid exits
One Coronation Street character's soap future was confirmed on Wednesday night's gripping episode.
During this week's episodes, Lauren Bolton was on trial for the murder of Joel Deering.
The villainous character was discovered dead in October after going missing, and it was subsequently revealed that Lauren was the perpetrator in a whodunnit plot twist, having struck Joel's head with a rock to save Max Turner's life.
On Monday night, while she was in court, Lauren received news that her baby son Frankie was unwell and in hospital. Distressed that she couldn't be with her son due to being in court, Lauren confessed to the prosecution barrister during Max's cross-examination that she was glad Joel was dead.
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At the hospital later, Lauren told Max that Frankie was battling an infection. Convinced she was headed for prison, Lauren expressed regret over losing her cool in court and told Max that the trial didn't matter to her as all she cared about was Frankie's recovery.
However, thanks to a damning speech given by Dee-Dee Bailey, which fought for Lauren, the youngster learnt she was "not guilty" on Wednesday's episode and "free to leave the dock".
Coronation Street's official Instagram posted the moment on their Instagram, writing: "Lauren is a free woman! #Corrie." Taking to her own Instagram, actress Cait Fitton, who plays Lauren, shared the post and added: "FREEDOMMM."
The star added in a separate post: "I just want to start off by saying , what a honour it’s been to portray and bring this storyline to light. The past year and a half has been life changing to say that least. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has reached out and shared their love on Loz , the show and the storyline.
"The edits, the comments, the personal experiences you guys have shared with me, who have found themselves in situations similar to Lauren, has opened my eyes and truly shown how important it is to educate people on this topic that unfortunately does happen today.
"The fans that watch the show, day in day out, we couldn’t do this without you. Your dedication to the show is what keeps us going. Despite the storyline coming to a close , I hope we have done enough to highlight the issue of grooming, the signs, the affect it has on an individual and to create a platform where people are no longer afraid to speak up.
"I hope we can continue to raise awareness to help create a safe space for people to come forward, to turn their PAIN into POWER. Thank you again to @coronationstreet for giving me this opportunity, and of course the amazing @maggieoliveruk for working closely with us to bring people stories and experiences to light. All my love, C" with a heart emoji.
It comes amid a slew of exits on the hit ITV soap with Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver), Yasmeen Nazir (Shelley King), Max (Paddy Bever), PC Craig Tinker (Colson Smith), Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan) and Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) all set to leave the cobbles this year.
With Lauren's court ordeal and her love interest Max set to leave Coronation Street, many fans feared she would be found 'guilty' and leave the cobbles too. It remains to be seen what is next for Lauren on the soap now she is free.
Responding to the twist, one person said: "Didn't see that coming. Thought she was going down for murder" while a different account wrote: "Now that Lauren has been found not guilty, if they kill Max off in the Platt fire, that’ll be unnecessarily harsh. Just let them leave together #Corrie"
Coronation Street is on ITV1 at 8pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and on ITV X and STV.
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