Affairs never stay secret for long in Coronation Street, so Abi Webster (Sally Carman) and brother-in-law/boyfriend Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard) have been living on borrowed time ever since they ripped each other’s oily overalls off in the garage.
They survived a blackmail attempt by Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford), but it was the sharp eyes of Carl’s sister Debbie (Sue Devaney) that finally uncovered the secret.
When Abi dropped a hotel keycard and then Debbie spotted her on the hotel’s CCTV heading for Carl’s room, the game was up – and Carl soon admitted everything to his sister.
But for the moment, Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) has remained oblivious. Abi has told him she wants to end their marriage, but not the reason why, even though he’s been suspicious for some time that there was an attraction between her and Carl.
All that’s about to change though, as it looks like Kevin finally finds out the truth via that old favourite, the text that gets sent to the wrong person.
The occasion is Ronnie (Vinta Morgan)’s birthday party, and Carl is in the awkward position of being seated between Abi and James (Jason Callender) – the two people he’s currently sleeping with (not at the same time). Awkward.
Alfie knocks a drink over and Abi and Carl go to mop it up, with Debbie clocking how intimate they are with each other as they carry out this task.
Enraged, Debbie tells Abi she needs to end the relationship with Carl immediately.
Debbie tells Kevin not to trust Abi to play fairly in any divorce proceedings and says he’d better get himself a good lawyer. Abi can’t hear what’s being said in this conversation but knows it’s about her and instantly assumes the worst – that Debbie is telling Kevin about her affair with Carl.
She sends a panicked text to Carl to warn him that Kevin knows the truth – and then realises she’s sent the text to Kevin by mistake. Carl desperately tries to get his hands on Kev’s phone before Kevin sees anything. Is the game up?
In the following days, Abi is concerned for Kevin and Jack (Kyran Bowes) and lets herself in to number 13. A furious Kevin says she’s no longer welcome in the house and demands her key back.
Later, Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove) comes to find Abi and Carl and suggests they might want to get over to number 13, as she’s just seen him throwing all of Abi’s belongings into the street.
It looks like there’s no going back for Abi and Kevin after this. But is there a future for her and Carl? And how will Kevin recover from this betrayal?
