Out of all the residents of Coronation Street, Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon) has a better chance at understanding Will Driscoll (Lucas Hodgson-Wale) than most. In the same way Will was groomed and gaslit into an illicit sexual relationship by his predatory athletics coach, Megan Walsh (Beth Nixon), Bethany was manipulated and coerced into child sex exploitation when she was sixteen by her boyfriend, Nathan Curtis (Christopher Harper). Like Bethany, Will was isolated from his family by his abuser and became convinced he was in a loving relationship, when nothing could be further from the truth.
Even when Megan’s true colours were exposed and the entire street hated her guts, Will refused to accept the truth and stayed under her spell despite the best efforts of his dad Ben Driscoll (Aaron McCusker), step-mum Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) and grandmother Maggie Driscoll (Pauline McLynn). So absolute was Megan’s influence that Will believed her when she lied that she’d lost their baby as a result of being shoved by an angry Maggie, when in truth she underwent a secret termination. He was even prepared to run away to Paris with her to start a new life, but in reality, Megan always intended to leave Will behind.
Fortunately, just as Will was about to say goodbye forever to his unsuspecting family, he happened to get into a taxi driven by Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) – the only other person on Coronation Street other than Bethany who might be able to relate to what he’s going through. Tim opened up about how when he was 14, he was in an inappropriate relationship with a woman called Trisha, who was 20 at the time. It took Tim a while to come to terms with the reality of his relationship, and how it was actually sexual abuse. Urged by Tim to tell the truth, the scales fell from Will’s eyes and he went to the police station, where Ben, Eva, Maggie and Ollie Driscoll (Raphael Akuwudike) were waiting.
However, the nightmare is far from over. There’s no guarantee that Megan will be charged by the police, the Driscolls are left in more turmoil than ever thanks to ongoing tensions between Maggie and Ben, and Will is left on the first steps of a very difficult healing journey… something that Bethany knows all too well.
But Bethany’s attempts to support Will end in disaster in next week’s episodes of Coronation Street, with explosive consequences. Finding Will in the precinct, Bethany draws on her own experience of being groomed to try and offer support. However, when she touches his hand, a volatile Will erupts, accusing her of trying to molest him.
