Coronation Street villain Theo Silverton faces another setback next week, as his teenage daughter Millie delivers a cold truth that leaves him devastated. Will Theo be able to keep his temper under control – or will his partner Todd Grimshaw pay the price for his upset?

Following a court hearing over custody of his kids, Theo is granted formal access for the first time since leaving his wife Danielle and starting a new life with Todd.

At the Corner Shop flat, controlling Theo insists that Todd clean the place up because Miles and Millie are coming over to stay.

In response, Todd does all he can to keep up appearances, but the visit takes an unexpected turn.

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Still giving her dad the cold shoulder, Millie outlines to Theo that she and Miles are only there because they’re legally bound to be.

As Theo fills with hurt, will his relationship with his kids ever recover? And if not, how will he process losing his family?

“Millie and Miles have struggled to accept their dad’s new relationship with Todd,” our Corrie source reminds us. “Every time they seem to be warming to Theo again, they get reeled back in by Danielle and scheming Noah Hedley.

“When the teens are summoned to spend some time on the cobbles with Theo, they’re determined not to make life easy for him. It’s awkward for Todd to be at the centre of the chaos.”

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Gareth Pierce, who plays Todd, recently spoke about the ITV soap exploring the topic of domestic abuse in his character’s new relationship.

“Coercive control and domestic abuse storylines have been played before in Corrie and in other soaps, but I think it’s fairly unprecedented that we’ve had this level of focus on an abusive same sex relationship,” Gareth explained.

“The themes and dynamics within are universal. But we want to be sure that we’re truthfully depicting the way that the abuse can be slightly different or unique within the same sex relationship as well.”

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Discussing the show’s research into the topic, Gareth added: “One of the big things that’s been flagged is the way that it can be very difficult to convince the authorities that that is the dynamic that is actually happening.

“There are also the social pressures that might make two men feel that: ‘You’re a bloke, you should be able to sort it out yourself’. Those quite narrow and archaic views of masculinity still sometimes pop up around a relationship dynamic like this.

“That’s obviously not to say that it’s not equally difficult for women to convince the authorities that they’re in an abusive relationship with a man. It can be very difficult to access support whether it’s a heterosexual or a same sex relationship.”

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.

Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage

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