Coronation Street star return ‘confirmed’ – and it’s not good news for Tyrone and Fiz

Coronation Street fans may be set to see a familiar face return to the ITV cobbles – and it is sure to rock the Dobbs household.

Alina Pop (played by Ruxandra Porojnicu) first arrived on the cobbles back in 2019 and had two stints on the long-running show. The brunette beauty, hailing from Romania, was part of a storyline involving a human trafficking ring which gripped viewers across the country.

Loyal fans will remember how Seb Franklin (Harry Visinoni) discovered she had been shipped over to the UK to work at a nail salon. At the time, her ‘boss’ confiscating her passport to prevent her from returning home.

When she finally escaped his from her employer’s cruel grasp, she soon fled the country to reunite with her family. But she didn’t leave the soap for long, with the 30-year-old actor returning to the soap back in February 2020.

Determined to make Coronation Street her home, it wasn’t long before she drove a wedge between Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) and his long-term partner Fiz (Jennie Mcalpine). Sparks immediately flew between the two, with Tyrone making the difficult decision to call time on his nine-year relationship with Fiz.

The couple then moved into the salon flat together, but the mechanic’s pyromaniac daughter Hope (Isabella Flanagan) wasn’t best pleased with her dad’s new girlfriend. Hellbent on splitting the pair up, she lit a fire in the flat which inevitably caused Alina to miscarry her baby.

Thankfully, a few weeks later, the TV favourite announced she was expecting again. But the straw that broke the camel’s back for the couple was when she learnt that Tyrone had lied about Hope’s destructive behaviour.

In September 2021, the soon-to-be mother decided to jet back to Romania. Tyrone managed to stop her when he found her at the Chariot Square Hotel, determined to fight for their relationship and to be a part of his child’s life.

Alina insisted to a pleading Tyrone that she wasn’t pregnant after all and had simply got her dates muddled up. But shortly before she boarded the flight, viewers saw her at the airport departures lounge where she ordered a tomato juice and cradled her blossoming baby bump.

Ever since her departure, fans have been begging ITV bosses to bring her back for a third stint, and this time she could have a toddler in tow. Now, a recent social media post appears to have confirmed fans pleads after the actress was spotted in the heart of Manchester, Metro.co.uk revealed.

Last week, one superfan shared a snap of him with the TV favourite outside the soap’s production site in Trafford on X. He captioned the snap: “@RuxPorojnicu Thankyou SO much Ruxandra for the photo and autograph today, it’s always lovely to meet you.”

What problems this will stir up at Number 9 for the Dobbs family remains to be seen – but it’s fair to say their household is already bursting at the seams since Fiz’s return last year. Daily Star has reached out to a Coronation Street spokesperson for a comment.

Since the fiery redhead returned to Underworld after her business trip to Norwich, she moved into the family home which has since gained some new housemates. Alongside Hope and Ruby (Billie Naylor), the doting mum is also living with Tyrone’s mum Cassie (Claire Sweeney) and his grandmother Evelyn (Maureen Lipman).

Viewers will have to stay tuned to see how the Dobbs family will react to Tyrone’s former flame possibly returning to Weatherfield.