In some of Coronation Street’s most harrowing scenes, Toyah Habeeb (Georgia Taylor) has opened up about burying her stillborn child in a park 23 years ago.
The grim plot was revealed last month, and received an outcry from horrified fans who were unsure whether the revelation would fit into the ITV soap’s established history.
It began during Monday’s (22nd April) episode, when Roy Cropper’s (David Neilson) dog was stolen in North Cross Park by super sleuths who are searching for information in the disappearance of Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton).
Toyah overheard a video of the dognappers saying that they believed Freddie was digging up the troubled teen’s body, and headed down to confront them.
During a violent outburst, she smashed up their car and was later taken in for questioning at the police station – but solicitor Joel Deering (Calum Lill) was able to get her off without charge.
Later in the day, she picked up a yellow rose from the florists and headed back to the park and placed it on the soil.
In tonight’s (24th April) instalment, Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) could see a change in her behaviour and later found her crying on the floor of their living room.
Coming clean, Toyah recalled events from 2001, when she was raped by Phil Simmonds (Jack Deam) and found in the ginnel by Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas).
At the time, we saw her mum Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle) take her to the police station where a doctor advised her to take the morning after pill as a form of emergency contraception.
However, Toyah explained to Nick that she was unaware she was pregnant and later gave birth to a stillborn child, at 26 weeks into gestation, on her bedroom floor.
With Janice and step-dad Les (Bruce Jones) downstairs celebrating their bingo win, she lay beside the baby girl in bed overnight in hope it would take a breath, and the next morning took her to North Cross.
Noticing the rose bush growing over the child’s final resting place, she named her Rose.
Nick questioned why her family didn’t realise her agony, she said her parents were blissfully unaware as to why she was ‘walking around like a ghost’ and that sister Leanne (Jane Danson) was in Amsterdam at the time.
Toyah also admitted that she had travelled to Bolton for antibiotics and later asked a nurse whether the ordeal had caused her later fertility issues.
She also confessed that she would find it too difficult to open up to Leanne, who lost her own son Oliver three years ago, but Nick wondered whether he could keep it a secret from his fiancée.
Things went from bad to worse for when Simon Barlow (Alex Bain) informed them that he’d heard police had swarmed the park to search for Lauren’s body and Toyah felt she was left with no choice but to hand herself in.
At the station, Nick rushed to tell her it was a false alarm and she later decided against coming clean.
When Leanne returned home, she recalled the story to her sister and the two shared a tender moment at the baby’s graveside, when one of Oliver’s teddies was placed down.
At the end of the evening, Nick told Toyah he was proud of her for opening up and the two hugged… but things got awkward when they lingered towards one another, unsure of what to do next.
Could an affair be on the cards, and will baby Rose be discovered?
