Coronation Street legend exits Weatherfield without saying goodbye
Leanne Battersby leaves Weatherfield next week to go on a retreat with Altovalent Institute leader Rowan Cunliffe's group without saying goodbye to Simon Barlow
A Coronation Street icon leaves Weatherfield next week.
Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) finds a forum for ex-members of the Altovalent Institute. She tries to show Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) a post she’s seen, suggesting that the Institute is not to be trusted, only to discover it’s been taken down for legal reasons.
Leanne’s dismissive but calls Rowan Cunliffe ( Emrhys Cooper) who makes out that his bitter ex wrote it and there’s no truth in her words. When Rowan reveals that he’s been promoted to head of the North-West division and offers her a tour of the Institute, Leanne’s flattered.
Leanne explains to Simon Barlow (Alex Bain) that she met a guy called Jared at the Institute who’d be happy to help him set up his food delivery app. Toyah listens in. When Simon reveals that Jared’s agreed to meet him and he’ll need to borrow some money, Leanne’s delighted, but Toyah reckons it’s another scam. Toyah studies Rowan’s page and copies a number into her phone.
Toyah meets with Rowan’s ex, Una (Elizabeth Arends) and explains how her sister has become embroiled in the Institute and she’s worried she might be in danger. Will she get the confirmation she’s been fearing? As Leanne leaves for the retreat, Toyah begs her to reconsider, but Leanne refuses.
Simon’s hurt to find she’s gone without saying goodbye. Having bunked off work, Simon proceeds to get drunk, before throwing up in Tim Metcalfe’s (Joe Duttine) cab and doing a runner without paying. Leanne has recently became entangled in a sinister cult, and she has well and truly fallen under the spell of Rowan’s spell. In recent scnes, Rowan encouraged Leanne to try “uploading” for the first time – a process which saw her relive some of her deepest traumas, including the death of son Oliver.
Believing that Rowan was truly trying to help her, Leanne opened up about her guilt surrounding Oliver’s death, explaining how she felt that it had been karma for all of her previous mistakes. When Rowan urged her to dig deeper, she went on to open up about her experiences as a prostitute, believing that “uploading” these memories would leave her open to a more positive mindset.
When Leanne got up to get herself a glass of water, Rowan pulled out his phone, and it became clear that he had recorded the whole session. With Leanne having confessed to being the mastermind behind the arson at Valandro’s, could Rowan be set to use this recording against her?