Daniel Discovers Daisy's Affair! : Corrie Love Triangle Becomes A Foursome?

Way back in April, I attended one of my most memorable and emotional Corrie press days. Luckily enough to get a preview of the acid attack episodes, I gasped as Ryan dropped to the Rovers floor in agony, burning from the sulphuric acid. Daisy dragging him to the shower in her wedding dress may have been a symbolic harbinger of her relationship with Daniel, but we had no idea at that time. With the marriage never being mentioned again, the wedding ring disappeared - and Ryan and Daisy's emotional entanglement and subsequent affair began. Daniel has had some vague suspicions and nearly caught them in the act at the hotel recently. This week, the teacher finally catches Daisy out. Add Bethany Platt to the mix (Daniel’s ex) who's returning any time between now and 2024, and I wonder if this love triangle of the year is about to turn into a foursome? 

Daniel and Daisy argue over the kitchenette

Back in October, Corrie Blog caught up with Corrie producer Iain Macleod, who told us what's to come this Christmas and New Year as this love triangle explodes! 

Hi Iain, What can you tell us about Ryan, Daniel, Daisy and the return of Bethany? 

‘’I’ll start by saying that I love this love triangle - I veer from week to week from being ‘Team Daniel and Daisy’ to ‘Team Ryan and Daisy! Normally, in soaps like ours, when you have an affair, you end up having to make one person behave badly to orchestrate the cheating, but this has been so organic from the start. I entirely understand Daisy’s feelings for Daniel and the depth of those, but I also understand the (depth of) feelings she’s got for Ryan, having survived this terrible ordeal. I don't know who I am rooting for!’’

Daniel sees footage of Daisy & Ryan together?

Daisy’s feelings for Ryan can't go undiscovered forever. Is he due to find out anytime soon? 

''He does indeed start to cotton on, (to what's been going on between them) and the feelings they have for each other. (Daniel realises) the betrayals they’ve committed behind his back. There are intense sequences where Daniel starts to put the pieces together. We see a slight revisiting of some of Daniel's darkness (not quite to the extent of pushing anyone down the stairs) but, what we know about him'' Iain continued ''is that when pushed into an emotional corner, a switch goes. He’s capable of doing some fairly underhand, and classically dark things. We’ll see flashes of that as the story unfolds and some classic soapy manipulation on his part, to try and distance Ryan and Daisy, as quickly and as fair apart as possible. Ultimately, it all comes crashing down: there are some fantastic scenes concerning the end of that (Daniel and Daisy) relationship!''

Daisy contemplates wearing tartan

Where does that leave Daisy? 

‘’There are some big dilemmas for Daisy: if it's not Daniel, then does she choose Ryan purely because he is the default setting? Ryan is also quite vulnerable - he could get his heart trampled on. In the middle of all this, a volatile cocktail arrives with Bethany, who has all of this history with Daniel, and that sharpens Daisy’s focus in terms of how she feels about him''

Ryan and Daisy's Last Christmas?

What can we expect in the New Year, with Bethany adding to this Ryan, Daisy, and Daniel story? 

‘’ A brilliant classic soap story, I think. Without duplicating anything, we are attempting to go to something that has the same level of emotional heft as some of those classic affairs of yore: Mike and Deirdre stuff, like a love triangle of the ages. It's (the storyline) going to go deep into next year as buried feelings come back to the surface with a bang or two! Bethany is a different proposition this time around. (She has) the beginnings of a successful journalism career, and is now an equal foe for Daisy. Bethany is coming back for this Daniel story and is also involved in a huge storyline coming up this next year ''

Thanks, Iain! 

I think the acid-attack storyline (although utterly shocking) has given us a plethora of classic Corrie drama, and as this love triangle becomes a foursome, it looks like plenty more is still to come!

Watch Corrie this week on ITV & ITVX as Daniel begins to discover Daisy’s affair. 

I am @rybazoxo on X - Corrie blogger and Cobbles Connossieur #Corrie

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Coronation Street Episode Review, Wednesday 7th June, 8 pm

Welcome to another Wednesday Weatherfield round-up and to catch up on the latest goings on, on Coronation Street. I've had a few weeks off as doing press day events usually means I’m weeks in front with storylines and spoilers, but I've now caught up. That said, I've another event in the pipeline so we shall see how this month pans out!

Tonight starts at Sarah and Adam’s Redbank pad, with Adam getting deluged with solicitor work, so he's unable to make the football match with Harry. The late licence is granted but he’s still busy with work, much to his wife’s irritation. Sarah despatches the match tickets to Shona so she finds herself free for the evening. Damon overhears the cafe conversation and heads over to her flat armed with a bottle of vino and a cache of sweet nothings to whisper in her ear. 

The clandestine meet is soon interrupted when Gail brings Harry home from school! Sarah's lied about her whereabouts and her mum is quick to spot that something is going off. With Gail out of the way, it’s Harry who sees Sarah actually kissing Damon. 

Harry then decides to draw a picture of the event to show his granny! Gail confronts Sarah with the evidence and she admits the truth, and about the fact that she wanted to ruin the late licensing chances. Later, Sarah tells Damon they've been caught and that things must stop, whilst she lies to Harry to shut him up. 

 

Meanwhile, the Baileys haven’t really had much comedy, have they? Ed debuted by knocking a hole through Ken’s living room wall, for the renovations, but we've had little funnies from them since, until now? Fresh from meeting their ex-very posh neighbours at Debbie’s hotel cuisine night, Ed and Aggie are embarrassed about swapping Alderley Edge for Weatherfield and living in squalor at N0.3 (that makeover hasn't done much for them, I guess). Ed tells Dee-dee that they won't stop texting to arrange a posh dinner party, so Agie harangues Tim and Sally into letting them use No.4 for a soiree, instead. A house-swap? I can only guess this will lead to shenanigans, especially since the guest stars playing Patrick and Yvette are both comedy gold. 

Elsewhere, Ryan’s suddenly crystal clear with the fact that he’s been catfished and Daisy insists on playing dumb. Carla is hellbent on getting to the bottom of who’s been playing with his emotions. Ryan unloads all of this on Daisy and she blames Justin and Karen.  

Back from the STC, Max must wear an electronic tag as part of his licensing conditions. Starting rehabilitation, Max writes a letter for Alya and manages to get it delivered to Speed Daal. Alya's stressed at the solicitors, blowing up in front of Sarah and admits her misery from the Weatherfield race riots and Max’s hand in the violence. Adam offers her some gentle advice. Alya receives the letter and is furious at Max’s indifference, catching him in the street to throw the letter back in his face. Gary splits up the ruckus but lends a sympathetic ear to Max's plight. Gary then tells Alya he’s smoothed things over and Max will now leave her alone. Gav calls Max to arrange a catch-up with his girlfriend, and he arrives home late to the police paying another visit. He’s been spotted visiting Speed Daal! Shona promises to keep a closer hold on him. 

In other news, Todd’s still single, David and Glenda got a great scene together, and the charity shop does a great sideline in Dad jokes! 

What did you think of tonight’s offering?  I am @rybazoxo if you want to tweet and let me know!

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Ryan's Acid Attack!! What Happens Next?- Corrie Blog Interviews Ryan Prescott

Well, Corrie had us all hoodwinked there, didn't they? Being a privileged Coronation Street fan, I had a sneak preview of last night's attack scenes nearly two weeks ago which I had to keep a secret. I did it though and here is my latest cast interview to prove it. I'm yet to see the episode as I was too busy writing this!!

Settling down for a zoom session press conference with ITV Corrie, they opened the press event (before a trio of cast interviews) with those dark and harrowing scenes, which I was not expecting! Feeling genuine shock, and slightly mortified, I immediately thought of the aftermath and the future for the Ibiza DJ / quasi-son of Michelle Connor / lovelorn ex of Alya. Will Michelle come back, is this Ryan's exit storyline? The answer is a resounding NO to both questions, but read on and learn more about how actor Ryan Prescott readied himself for a character-changing event. 

Hi Ryan! 

We've just watched the acid attack and the shower scenes. What were they like to film? 

They were actually quite fun, the whole block (of filming) was actually quite fun, as Andrew Still said (Justin) it had a different energy to it. We all had an urgency to tell the story, and although everyone was serious about what they were doing, there was a lightness to the environment and respect for it. Charlie (Charlotte Jordan - Daisy) made it easy for me, she’s a fantastic actor and we work quite well together. For the acid attack scenes themselves, we used special cameras that can film 100 frames per minute, which allows us to speed up the material, and dub the audio to it, then slow it down - to give it this visceral and guttural effect. It's like when you are involved in a dramatic incident and everything goes slowly and blurry it kind of shifts in your mind. We wanted to add that to the look of things. For the shower scenes themselves, l underestimated how cold the water was going to be - no acting was being done there. That was just trying to breathe for about 5 -6 hours (!) That was cold water because they didn't want steam to invade the shots!

How did you get yourself into the mindset of filming these scenes? 

Actors can talk about processes and such but I think this goes down a different route. You've got to shift yourself into a mindset of emotional availability and suggestion within the given circumstance and commit 100% given to it, and bounce off of your co-cast. 

Ryan Prescott with ASTI Patron Princess Anne

Coronation Street has worked with ASTI and the Katie Piper Foundation for this storyline. What kind of research have you done yourself? 

I spoke to an acid-attack survivor with a great warrior spirit, a really great guy. I was in conversation with him and his psychotherapist about a very long road to recovery. He had such a story to tell, really brutal. You do your research, go down the rabbit hole so to speak, and do your reading. You can do all the reading in the world but it can't make you comprehend the violence behind this and its extreme nature. Instead, you try your best to engage in the issues around it. You have to try and relate to it on an emotional level, imagining how it would affect your own life and lean into your imagination. That's what you've got to do. 

When Ryan is first hit with the liquid, does he know it's acid? 

After just watching the scenes back from the final edit, there are a few seconds when you wouldn't know what it was. It takes a couple of seconds for sulphuric acid (which is what this is) for it to hit the skin and start eroding it. There was a moment that we shot where Ryan gathers that this isn’t what he would have assumed, but we went straight to the action in the final edit. It’s just on the edge of reality, and a thing that people don't need to see that realisation. It's a fantastic edit, and I guess he would have thought it was vodka or something at the moment, Mainly because it's difficult to anticipate this level of hate and violence. We don't really like to look at these things, the fact that one person could do this to another person. In society, we want to look away from these things, we like to turn away from them and not look at them head-on. It's because it's scary, it is scary, which is why we wanted to do this storyline in the first place. There were 300 acid attacks in Manchester in 2021 alone. Not televised nor on social media - it's far more prevalent than you'd expect. 

A little bit further into the episode, Ryan goes to the hospital, and there is a little scene at the end where Daisy visits him, feeling bereft with guilt. Ryan then breaks down to Daisy. How is he feeling at this point? 

At this point, he's starting to realise that his life will never be the same again. He's trying to cling to anything he can to deny this new reality; his relationship with Alya and this new possibility with Crystal in Ibiza. He sees these things slipping away yet tries to keep hold of them in the face of this new reality and tries to understand the gravity of his wounds and what has happened. 

Does he feel any resentment towards Daisy following the attack? 

No, he knows it's not her fault and she's been so consistent with his aid, and she was the reason he ended up in the hospital - it saved most of his face. He doesn't blame Daisy. I think if he has any resentment or anyone he blames, it's Justin.  

What long-term effects will it have on the character? 

It will definitely change him and how he interacts with the world. The difficulty within the soap parameter is to show some longevity and the reality of these life-changing injuries and how it affects acid-attack survivors. The restoration period of recovery is long, if not lifelong, with trauma therapy and learning to deal with people looking at you and just trying to accept that people react differently to you. It's the first thing you see in the morning, and how you identify yourself. When that changes it will change your whole world. He has to look at trying to get back to the reality that he once had. Corrie has had prosthetics made on my face by an incredible make-up artist and we had a mould made and then created pieces for layered skin and scarring. We had to focus on stages of skin healing, for continuity and the like. Corrie’s makeup team have had to work with me, with different directors, and in different production blocks. The make-up takes about an hour to come on and then get off but it’s getting faster! It's a huge job to undertake but they've smashed it!   

 

Thank you, Ryan! 

   

What are your thoughts on last night's acid-attack episode? Tweet us @rybazoxo and @corostreetblog to let us know! 

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Corrie Blog Interviews Andrew Still - Justin's Warped Thinking Leads To An Acid Attack!!

Justin Rutherford’s stalking of Daisy Midgeley has been a slow-burner of a stalking storyline. Considering Daniel’s traumatic history with Sinead, I guessed they weren't going to give Daisy cancer, but not many could have predicted that the random fella she met in the hospital would become her stalker. I certainly didn't. What began as a chance meeting at Weatherfield General, Justin’s delusions have led him on a cat and mouse game with the Rovers barmaid, from flowers and chocolates, social media trolling, through to becoming a delivery driver on Coronation Street trying anything to win her heart. His delusions have left the feisty barmaid feeling paranoid and repressed, leading her to have doubts about marrying Daniel. It's a story that’s almost played out in real-time and has given Daisy’s character far more depth, displaying a range of emotions, despair and anguish about Justin's predatory predilection. However, Daisy recently turned the tables on Justin, by luring him to Victoria Gardens to get him arrested for assault. 

Out on bail, Justin has kept the peace until now, but with Daisy’s wedding day finally here, Coronation Street has told us that Justin is seeking revenge and throws acid at Daisy on her wedding day itself! A classic Corrie will they / won't they wedding has been promised, but will Justin get the ultimate revenge and destroy Daisy’s good looks, Instagram-mad image, and her whole life on this most important day? It promises to be a Corrie crescendo to this storyline, and I cannot wait to see what happens! 

A few weeks ago, and as part of a Coronation Street press day to discuss this storyline development, your no.1 Corrie fan (aka me) joined Zoom to chat with Scottish actor Andrew Still to learn more about playing Justin Rutherford and his revenge acid attack on Daisy!

Hi Andrew! Thanks for chatting with us today. 

What is going on in Justin’s mind in the lead-up to this event - why does he continue to harass her, even though she clearly wants him to stop? 

He’s stuck in this obvious thought pattern with her and he can't let go of this attachment that he’s got her. After his Mum died, he lost his purpose and decided that Daisy is his new purpose. He’s putting everything into it and fearing that he may lose it all which is why he is going so far in trying to keep hold of her. He’s using the death of his Mother to justify his terrible decision-making. 

We haven't seen a violent side of Justin until he launched himself at Daisy in Victoria Gardens. Can you tell us why his behaviour has escalated from flowers and chocolates to bombarding social media messaging to this point? 

That Victoria garden scene was a real tipping point for Justin in this story. He's been dealing with his mother's death and that rejection from Daisy has been building up for weeks and months and of course that goading from Daisy was from the day of the funeral itself. He was publicly embarrassed by her filming him, getting him kicked out of his Mother’s wake, and the pressure causes him to go over the edge. In his warped thinking, he sees himself as the victim. His grief is making his behaviour very risky and his dissociation is rather dangerous. 

After being released on bail, Justin keeps out of Daisy’s way until the morning of the wedding and he decides to throw acid at her! Why has he suddenly taken things to this extreme? 

I guess his thought process is that he’s finally taking things on board, and all of Daisy’s words have hit home. They're never going to be together, she doesn't want anything to do with him, and as that's sinking in - it's hurting his pride and his ego coupled with the misplaced hurt and anger that he’s feeling around the death of his Mum. He’s also got the anger that Daisy has all of her life to look forward to with Daniel whilst his life implodes. I think at that moment, he’s starting to think of ways to hurt her the way that she’s hurt him. It's a total act of hate. He can't justify it in his head, as much as he’d like to. He crosses a boundary that hasn't been crossed before. 

In an ideal world, what does Justin think he will get out of attacking Daisy with Acid?!! 

I think he’s got the blinkers up a bit. I don't think he’s really thought that far ahead. In the time leading up to the attack, he’s just thinking about revenge after everything she's put him through. He’s laser-focused on the attack and hasn't thought about the repercussions. It's only after the event itself that he realises what he’s done. The reality then seeps in. 

As an actor, what did you feel about the acid attack storyline? 

I was pretty shocked, I didn't realise it would go that far. To be honest, I was a little bit intimidated. It is such an awful crime you obviously want to do it justice. I felt as long as I did my research and gave everything to the character - hopefully, it'll resonate well with the audience. I did a lot of research on stalking at the start of this role, and read countless articles on it, and then the same with acid attacks and researching the acid survivor's trust. I thought it was important to have an understanding of the crime itself. 

Thanks, Andrew!

Coronation Street airs Daisy’s wedding day episode (10912/13) tonight at 8 pm on ITV and ITVX

What do you think about this acid-attack story? Let us know in the comments section!

I am @rybazoxo your die-hard Coronation Street fan and roving Corrie blogger

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