We don’t know much about Theo Silverton’s (James Cartwright) past in Coronation Street, but what we do know is incredibly dark and as his increasingly abusive relationship with Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) continues to get worse, it seems there’s still more to be revealed.
Theo has been a victim of sick conversion therapy, which he initially blamed for his increasingly erratic behaviour and following a lifetime of shame, hurt and grappling with his sexual identity, the damage left behind is evident.
Though Todd was elated when Theo turned his back on his past and dove headfirst into their new relationship, the little red flags soon developed into huge, enormous STOP signs.
Todd looked past the mystery surrounding Theo’s violent past, though his behaviour soon worsened when Theo physically abused him, degrading him verbally while force-feeding him a kebab.
Theo has succeeded at worming his way back into Todd’s life time after time and his behaviour has gotten increasingly controlling since the two moved into a flat together, flying off the handle following evil conversion therapy practitioner Noah Hedley’s (Richard Winsor) death, and even when Todd’s close friend George Shuttleworth (Tony Maudsley) popped round.
Next week sees Todd shocked when Theo, usually adverse to Todd spending time with anybody, agrees to a night out in Manchester’s gay village, alongside Sean Tully (Antony Cotton), James Bailey (Jason Callendar), Mary Taylor (Patti Clare), Glenda Shuttleworth (Jodie Prenger) and Christina Boyd (Amy Robbins).
The night out is a blast, until a Theo locks eyes with a man we’ve yet to meet and his face suddenly darkens.
Theo stares holes into the man until he steps away, but obviously needing to deal with the situation without Todd seeing, he urges his boyfriend to head to the dancefloor with the group.
Todd agrees, and as he heads to dance with James, Theo looks furious. Heading to the bathroom, he’s confronted by the man from before, Owen.
The two lock horns and it becomes clear that there’s history between them.
Theo manhandles Owen out of the club and on to the street, viciously telling him to stay away. As a result of the confrontation, Theo vanishes, leaving Todd in a state of confusion and panic over where he’s gone.
But who is Owen? What history does he have with Theo?
