Coronation Street fans think they have have seen the last of Mal Roper after explosive scenes played out in Thursday night’s episode of the world’s longest-running TV soap
Bernie threatened Mal with a corkscrew(Image: ITV)
Coronation Street fans think Bernie Winter could finally be free from her stalker. The cafe waitress, who has been played by Jane Hazelgrove since 2019, ended up crossing paths with Mal Roper on an ill-fated night out earlier this year, and she ended up in his hotel room, where they shared a kiss.
In the weeks that followed, Mal got a job as an electrician at the cafe where she works and has pursued her relentlessly, making his feelings for her known. For Bernie, she ended up spending some time in prison when he was mysteriously attacked in the night. She later worked out that her long-lost son Kit, a police officer, was behind the attack, but hasn’t said anything, seemingly aware of the trouble it could land him in. Instead, Mal told police that Dev had attacked him and the shopkeeper was arrested.
On Friday night’s episode of the world’s longest-running TV soap, Mal took things one step further by inviting Bernie to his hotel room, where he demanded they “make love.” When Bernie rejected the offer, he decided to insult her.
OPINION
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Bernie made Mal promise to clear Dev’s name with the police(Image: ITV)
He said: “Who calls their sprogs Gemini and Apollo? Bet you’ve got a lump of amethyst by your front door. Your tie-dye T-shirts are laughable! Crystals or no crystals, you will always be a drug-loving train wreck. What you need, you zodiac-loving waste of space, is a darn good seeing to!”
Mal few into a fit of rage about how unfair his life is, so Bernie pointed a corkscrew at him as she yelled: “Dev could serve three life sentences back-to-back, but me and you, pal, we are never gonna happen!”
She made him promise to go to the police and clear Dev’s name, just before he fled the scene. Just then, hotel receptionist Ryan Connor burst through the door and hugged Bernie tight.
Fans instantly took to social media to speculate, and hope, that they would be the last they would see of Mal. Taking to Reddit, one fan asked: “So do we think that is the end of Mal?!” In response another fan said: “Hope so. He is a creepy pain in the a***!”
Another said: “I wish somebody could tell me the point of him. Corrie just seems to be in a bizarre mission to spew out as many “baddies” in one 12 month period as they possibly can. It’s beyond the realms of ludicrous now!”
Fans hoped they had seen the last of Mal
A third wrote: “I hope it’s the end, and it could well be, because I can’t see which other pointless direction the character could go in. I think he was just brought in to stir up trouble, although I do think they won’t be able to resist making him a long-lost relative of someone. Probably Jodie. Yawn.”
Actress Jane Hazlegrove, who joined Corrie as Bernie in 2019 but previously had a short stint as Sue Clayton in the 1990s, recently explained that her alter-ego had been left “absolutely terrified” by Mal.
She revealed: “She’s really quite frightened, and she’s been on the end of an aggressive, violent man a lot. So this is absolutely terrifying, she’s in deep now. It is really dangerous.” She added: “She’s made herself vulnerable—somehow she thinks she can kind of pull down her armour. That’s her superpower, the way she has this hard shell that keeps her safe and. But this is really bad.
“He’s unhinged. Then she also then discovers that someone has cut her head out of her wedding picture. I mean, this is stalker territory, he’s been in the house!” Mal attempted to kiss Bernie when they first met, and she tried to keep this from Dev before deciding that coming clean was the best option. Jane added: “Bernie decides Dev must know the truth in order to remove Mal’s power over her.
“Then everything is laid out, isn’t it? She’s being fully transparent finally, it has taken weeks and weeks on end, but it is the only option over to her. She knows that if Dev knows what Mal has been up to, it will all be okay.” She added: “It takes away Mal’s power, he’s got no power whatsoever. Because that’s what he’s been blackmailing her with.”
Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X.
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