Simon Barlow kicked onto the streets as he puts Sam Blakeman in hospital in Coronation Street
The lad's downward spiral has horrific consequences.
TIMES have been hard for Simon Barlow but his despair grows even further next week after Sam Blakeman is rushed to hospital.
The Coronation Street character is kicked to the curb next week by an unforgiving Nick Tilsley – will he stay in the cobbles?
Deprived of a last goodbye with his father Peter Barlow, Simon has been struggling to cope with his absence from the cobbles.
In recent scenes shared on ITV, the lad portrayed by Alex Bain was shown following in Peter’s footsteps as he began to drown his sorrows.
But Simon’s behaviour has had major consequences and, after being asked to take young Sam Blakeman (Jude Riordan) to a chess competition, he crashed his mother Leanne Battersby’s (Jane Danson) car.
So far, the restaurateur has cut her son some slack, well aware that Peter’s absence is hard for him to handle.
And when he admits to her that he pranged her car, she initially insists on reporting the accident to the police.
However, a horrified Leanne backtracks when Simon refuses and tells her he was over the drink drive limit.
Meanwhile, as Sam plays chess with Roy Cropper (David Neilson) before school, he struggles to make a basic move and Roy’s bemused.
Simon then tells Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) that he’s sorry about the car to which he responds by assuring him it was an accident.
But when Weatherfield mechanic Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) lets slip that the car repairs were nothing to do with the brakes, Nick’s suspicions grow.
At school, Hope Stape (Isabella Flanagan) finds Sam unconscious on the floor and yells for a teacher.
Sam’s rushed to hospital, where Leanne tells the doctor that Sam was involved in a car accident – she’s forced to admit to Nick that the brakes weren’t at fault.
In another breath, Leanne confesses that she lied to protect Simon as he’d been drinking and was over the limit when he crashed.
Nick reels in shock while, awash with guilt, Simon decides to take responsibility.
In other scenes, Sam’s upset to discover Simon has moved out of No.12 Victoria Court but there’s more to the story.
Leanne rails at Nick for throwing Simon out and always putting his own son first.
When she finds him huddled on a bench in Victoria Garden, Leanne’s devastated to realise he’s been there all night.
Simon pours his heart out, telling her that Nick’s right, he’s a waste of space, he drinks too much and is turning into his father – and he makes a big decision.
Later on, Simon chooses to get his act together by first admitting to Nick, Leanne and Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) that he’s been drinking too much and he intends to change.
Leanne hugs him, supportive and proud, but it’s clear Nick doesn’t share her optimism.
When Toyah lets slip that Nick was planning to propose to her, Leanne’s taken aback.
Leanne gets down on one knee and proposes to Nick.
But will he even accept following recent events and tensions with Simon?
Fans of the Manchester-based program will remember that actor Alex Bain is due for an explosive exit in 2024.
Could he be forced to leave the cobbles for Leanne and Nick to have a happy married life?
Will he make the sacrifice himself?
Could he join his father abroad?
Coronation Street airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8pm on ITV.
