The truth about Leanne and Corrie's nasty Nick

Next week in Coronation Street, we'll see Nick and Leanne getting back together. This is wrong in a million ways.  So it's time to dust off this blog post written last year to remind ourselves why Leanne should never, ever get back with Nick.

And so, for those who'd like their memories jogged, or for those who don't know and want to find out for the first time, here's what happened between Leanne Battersby and Nicky Tilsley.

When the Battersby's moved into Coronation Street in 1997 they were loud, brash, nasty pieces of work. Leanne's calmed down a lot since then but she came onto the Street like a Salford Spice Girl, all gob and mini-skirt. Gail Platt thought the Battersby's were scum, the whole lot of them. And that's exactly why Nick Tilsley started dating Leanne, to get back at his mum because he knew Gail would never approve.

Nick and Leanne grew close. Once when they were in bed together, they had an unexpected threesome when Ken Barlow dropped through their ceiling and onto their bed. Ken had been chasing Leanne's dad Les through the roofspace after Les had let himself into No. 3.

In 1998, Nick and Leanne eloped to get married in Gretna Green. He was 17 and she was 16. As you can imagine, Gail wasn't best pleased at the news when they returned. Leanne started work at the Kabin and Nick started college where his class received a visit from convicted murderer Darren Whately who Nick realised was the man who had stabbed his dad, Brian Tilsley, up an alley outside a nightclub.

Nick started writing to Darren - in Leanne's name - boo, hiss - and when Darren was released from prison he called on a terrfied Leanne. She was furious with Nick for putting her life in danger. Anyway, then Nick took a part-time job as a nude model, oo-er, at the local college where he met Miranda Peters. A jealous Leanne accused Nick of having a fling with Miranda and refused to go to his 18th birthday party.

So, you're probably thinking to yourself that Nick doesn't sound too nasty so far.

He was - and always will be - a mummy's boy. He was young and daft and he married Leanne to spite his mum - but wait, there's more. When Leanne found out she was pregnant in 1999, Nick not only demanded that she have an abortion but he then told everyone she had miscarried the baby. By 'eck, eh? He then trotted off to Canada (good riddance, etc.) and Leanne stayed alone in Weatherfield, realising that she didn't love him enough to go with him.

After Nick went abroad, Leanne played the casinos and put herself about a bit, ending up owing Ashley Peacock loads of rent for living in No. 4. So when Nick asked her for a divorce, she told him she wanted £2k which Gail gladly paid to get rid of the daughter-in-law of whom she'd never approved and had some wonderful fights with.

And what did Leanne do with the cash? Did she pay the rent? Did she 'eck as like. She blew the lot in one night at the casino and that's when Steve McDonald introduced her to Jez Quigley who introduced her to cocaine and a mad plot to rob the Rovers emerged...