Secret Coronation Street filming pictures may have given away Lauren’s shocking fate – and killer

The mystery of Lauren Bolton’s (Cait Fitton) disappearance has dominated Coronation Street for pretty much the entire year, and the answers are just around the corner.

Ahead of the big reveal, new pictures showing the cast filming secretive scenes appear to have added a huge amount of fuel to the leading fan theory.

At the moment, Roy Cropper (David Neilson) is incarcerated, believed by police to be the one who killed Lauren.

And Nathan Curtis (Chris Harper) has recently slithered back into Weatherfield in time to be arrested and become the prime suspect.

But viewers are pretty united in the fact that our Roy is 100% innocent and Nathan can only be a red herring.

So where have suspicions been falling, then?

For a long while, Corrie fans have had their close eye on Dee-Dee Bailey’s (Channique Sterling-Brown) new boyfriend Joel Deering (Callum Lill).

We first met the solicitor when he had to help Lauren out last year after she smashed up Audrey Roberts’ (Sue Nicholls) salon.

He then began romancing Dee-Dee before it became quite clear he was deceiving her, as he had a child with a former partner.

So already, he is pretty lax with the truth.

A few weeks back, Roy’s flashbacks paid attention to a missing – and expensive – necklace worn by Lauren, gifted to her by her mysterious older boyfriend.

In February, Joel spent a massive £300 on cufflinks. Once Alya Nazir (Sair Khan) found the receipt, she told Joel he had ‘expensive taste’.

Hmmm.

Another clue landed when it seemed that Lauren received an almost identical bouquet of flowers that Joel then gifted Dee-Dee.

And now, actor Callum has been spotted filming at a pub on location, once which has been redesigned to look boarded up and abandoned.

Dressed up in a sharp suit, why would the lawyer be hanging around a derelict boozer? Just what is he hiding in there?

Thoughts must of course therefore turn to the possibility that Lauren could be there – either dead or alive.

Already, viewers are suspicious that Joel is representing paedophile and prime suspect Nathan, who will be lifted by police after Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien) plants evidence in his van.

Will Joel really be fighting Nathan’s corner? Or might he see this as an opportunity to ensure that his client goes down for a crime that he himself committed?

The pieces seem to be linking nicely together but, of course, this is only a single theory.

Coronation Street has a big week of episodes ahead which will not only tell us who is responsible for Lauren’s fate, but also air the outcome for Roy – who will be cornered by a murderous Griff, who plans to kill him.

Speaking about the format-breaking eps, ITV soap boss Iain MacLeod enthused: ’This week is so gripping and unlike anything Coronation Street has done before, in terms of the story-telling.

‘It’s modern, really exciting and has some of our favourite characters right in the middle of the drama.

‘The murder mystery around Lauren has had us all on the edge of our seats and the race against time across this week to solve it before Roy gets seriously hurt is so engrossing and cleverly plotted.

‘It is also the launchpad for a massive new chapter in that narrative – so you really won’t want to miss it, if you want to carry on trying to piece together this thrilling puzzle!’

Are we onto something? Not long to wait!