Coronation Street spoilers follow, and this article also discusses sensitive subject matter such as domestic abuse and coercive control.
Coronation Street star Harriet Bibby has outlined Summer Spellman’s greatest fear in the soap’s ongoing issue-based storyline, which has seen Todd Grimshaw be abused by his husband, Theo Silverton.
Over the past few months, the ITV soap has explored Todd’s worsening situation, with recent scenes seeing Sarah Platt, Christina Boyd, George Shuttleworth and Gary Windass all attempt to get him out of his abusive relationship.
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At the same time, Summer has been attempting to learn more about the death of Billy Mayhew, which was caused by Theo. She suspects that Carl Webster is responsible, but today’s episode saw him urge her to look “closer to home” for the culprit.
Upcoming scenes will see the two strands converge as Summer begins to keep a close eye on Theo, and Bibby has explained that her character will be careful as she seeks to get information while also not placing Todd in an even worse position.
“Summer believes that Theo is capable of murder,” said the actor, who began playing Summer in 2020. “Recently she’s been grieving for Billy, and has been quite blinded by that and unable to see anything else that’s happening.
“I don’t think she’s seen it in him [Theo] until this point, but when her suspicions do start to come out, the penny drops. Suddenly, everything makes sense – now she’s seen it, she can’t unsee it.”
With Summer now viewing Theo as a likely candidate for Billy’s death, she naturally has some concern for Todd. If Theo has the capacity to commit murder, then it makes it all the more likely he is abusing Todd.
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“She’s panicking because she has got this whole weight on her,” explained Bibby. “She’s worried for Todd because he might be in a vulnerable position, and he’s all Summer has left. If anything happens to him, I don’t know what she’d do.”
During next week’s scenes, Todd will make the brave step to report Theo’s abusive behaviour to the police, but this isn’t before the prospect of moving to Belfast with his husband becomes a distinct possibility.
This spurs Summer into action, with Bibby sharing: “When he says he might be moving away, it’s really difficult. She knows Todd like the back of her hand, and in that moment she can see that it’s not something that he actually wants to do.
“He doesn’t want to leave Summer, especially in the position that she’s currently in. It then just hits her like a ton of bricks – it almost confirms her suspicions for her and she can see that this is a situation that Todd doesn’t want to be in.”
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“If he does leave, then she can’t even look out for him or protect him in any way. If he moves to Belfast, he’s literally on his own, and that panics Summer,” added the actor, who took over the role from Matilda Freeman.
This all leads Summer to approach George and Sarah, who have already expressed concern for Todd. As each of their stories align, they come to the conclusion that something needs to be done.
“Some of them tune into it straight away, others are slightly more sceptical and need to put those jigsaw pieces together a bit more before they come to a conclusion,” noted the star. “But the more they share, the more difficult it becomes to ignore.”
Coronation Street airs on weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Coronation Street is working on Todd and Theo’s story with support from Galop, the LGBTQ+ anti-abuse charity. For more information and resources, visit the charity’s website or contact the national helpline on 0800 999 5428.