Coronation Street is set to bring back one of its most dastardly villains ever, with Nathan Curtis staging a cobbles comeback later this year.
Christopher Harper, who portrayed vile Nathan between 2016 and 2018, will reprise his role as part of an upcoming storyline on the ITV soap, according to reports.
Nathan, as viewers will recall, was the manager of Supreme Tanning and notoriously part of a gang which groomed young girls.
He was introduced as a love interest for Shona Ramsey (Julia Goulding) and later met Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon), who he targeted and groomed, encouraging her to work at the tanning salon.
The acclaimed storyline saw Bethany escape from the gang, with her attackers subsequently jailed, with Bethany testifying against Nathan in court.
Aside from a vision experienced by Bethany in 2018 – which saw actor Christopher reprise his role – Nathan has remained off the cobbles and in captivity ever since.
But upcoming scenes will see Bethany devastated as she learns that he’s being released from prison.
‘Nathan’s easily the worst villain Corrie’s ever produced,’ a source told The Sun. ‘The grooming storyline was one of the soap’s most important. The hope is that revisiting it will boost the show.
‘It’s a risk but it’s one that producers hope will pay off.’
Metro.co.uk has reached out to Coronation Street for comment.
Fans had predicted a comeback for Nathan earlier this year when they speculated he might play a role in the disappearance of Lauren Bolton. Bethany, meanwhile, left the cobbles in 2020 but Lucy Fallon reprised her role last year, with Bethany still very much a firm favourite with fans.
The news of Nathan’s comeback comes just weeks after confirmation that the ITV soap would explore a horrifying new storyline for Toyah, which will see her stillborn baby unearthed.
The upcoming narrative – and generally the serial’s darker tone – has been met with criticism from ardent fans and previous cast members of the show. The Toyah story will prove to be a massive retcon, rewriting the controversial and graphic storyline from 2001, which saw her raped by Phil Simmonds.
At the time, there was no inkling at all of a pregnancy or stillbirth, despite Toyah being a prominent character during that particular timeframe.
But in scenes to come, viewers will be expected to believe that Toyah endured this ordeal in secret and buried her dead baby in the park.
