Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) and George Shuttleworth (Tony Maudsley) have been a couple for some time in Coronation Street and currently live together at No. 11.
But ahead of Sue Cleaver’s exit from the soap, it looks like Eileen might be having doubts about the future of the relationship.
George and the woman he calls ‘Eyelash’ have never exactly been the romance of the century. On their first Christmas together he underwhelmed her with his gift of a (nicely decorated) coffin and a funeral plan.
The following Christmas things didn’t get much better when George bought Eileen a new sofa – but actually purchased one for a doll’s house, leading him to deploy another coffin as a temporary sofa.
Despite George being rubbish with gifts, he and Eileen have forged a happy partnership together.
Until now. Since discovering that her sister Julie (Katy Cavanagh-Jupe) has terminal cancer, it seems that Eileen’s priorities in life may be starting to shift a bit. And George makes a mistake that leads her to wonder whether her future is really with him at all.
Julie’s former beau Brian Packham (Peter Gunn) confides to Roy (David Neilson) that he’s still in love with Julie. Roy advises Brian to tell Julie how he feels.
Brian gets quite different advice when he talks to George, however. The funeral director tells him to tread carefully and not make any hasty declarations to Julie.
This advice is what enrages Eileen, as she feels that George is trying to sabotage Brian and Julie’s last chance of happiness together in her final weeks. She’s so angry with him that she orders him to sleep on the sofa.
All of this sets Eileen thinking – is George really the man of her dreams? She has a heart-to-heart with Julie and her sister advises her not to settle for second best. If George is not setting her heart aflutter, Julie reckons she should move on and find someone else.
We know that Eileen will be leaving Coronation Street soon with Sue Cleaver saying ‘This is my decade. Nothing good happens if you don’t step out of your comfort zone,’ so one way or another her life is going to change drastically.
Will giving George the boot be part of that change? Or can he do something to convince her that he’s worth sticking with?
Just as long as he avoids coffin-based gifts, maybe he could still be in with a chance.
