Coronation Street fans told ‘keep eye’ on fan-favourite amid tragic death
The icon that is Roy Cropper is also set to be involved in the upcoming ‘murky’ storyline in the ITV soap
David Platt, Roy Cropper and Bernie Winter in Coronation Street(Image: ITV)
Coronation Street fans have been told to ‘keep an eye’ on a fan-favourite character as they feel the impact of Billy Mayhew’s recent tragic death.
Bernie Winter is among those having to deal with the vicar’s death, after he was killed in the recent multi-vechicle crash that took centre stage during Corrie’s recent epic crossover, dubbed Corriedale, which aired on Monday night (January 5).
Billy lost his life in emotional scenes during the special TV event, as a horror pile-up unfolded on a dark and stormy country road near the village of Hotten. While others escaped relatively unharmed, Billy was confirmed to have perished in the minibus carrying a number of Debbie Webster and Ronnie Bailey’s wedding guests.
In the dramatic scenes, as others rushed to move the car Lisa Swain was trapped in as flames rushed towards her, Theo Silverton seemingly went into the minibus to save Billy. However, aware of his abuse of his partner, Todd Grimshaw, the villain took the opportunity to try and keep his secret hidden, trapping Billy back in the vehicle and making his exit before it exploded.
While Todd and Summer Spellman have first been seen struggling to comprehend the loss, in upcoming scenes, Bernie, played by Jane Hazlegrove, will also struggle with her son-in-law’s death, which came nearly 18 months after the passing of her son, Paul Foreman, after his Motor Neurone Disease (MND) diagnosis.
In a new interview, Coronation Street’s producer Kate Brooks revealed: “Bernie’s such a fun character, but she’s really stoic and she’s watched her son die, which was horrific. Now she’s having to come to terms with the fact that Billy has also died.
Bernie Winter will struggle in an upcoming storyline for the ITV soap(Image: ITV)
“The thing with Bernie is that she wants to take care of people. She’s people’s rock, but as a result of that, she’s buried a lot of grief. If you cast your mind back to when Paul died, it was very rare that we saw Bernie lose it, or burst into tears. She was strong for everyone, she’s the strength of that whole family. So we wanted to explore what would happen if she had to deal with another really tragic death – and how that grief manifests.”
Kate went on to reveal: “We take Bernie on a really interesting journey as she struggles. It gets to the point where, because it’s been bubbling for such a long time, it eventually erupts. When it does, there are consequences for Bernie. It’s not as straightforward as Dev sweeping in and making sure that everything’s okay. It’s a really muddy, murky story that we take her on. I think it just again explores another side of Bernie that we’ve not seen yet.”
And it will not make things easy on her new marriage to Dev Alahan. “Obviously it’s going to be a test for Bernie and Dev, but it’s a test that they are a really strong couple, and no matter what we throw at them, they can overcome because they love each other,” Kate confirmed.
“They absolutely adore each other. It’s a big story for Bernie, and certainly Roy’s embroiled in that story as well. It’s a really interesting one to keep an eye on, because it’s going to be quite a big start of the year for Bernie.”
