Cult leader Rowan finds his next victim – and it leads to a shock Coronation Street exit
Rowan Cunliffe (Emrhys Cooper) is to set his sights on luring Simon Barlow (Alex Bain) into his Institute retreat in Coronation Street next week.
Simon’s adoptive mum Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) was the first to be indoctrinated into Rowan’s cult when Simon began attending his ‘self help’ group at the Chariot Square Hotel following his drink driving conviction.
Feeling down after his dad Peter (Chris Gascoyne) left Weatherfield, Simon hit the bottle which led to some dangerous consequences.
After losing his job at Underworld and growing his sorrows in the bar of the Rovers Return, he was reluctant to take Sam Blakeman (Jude Riordan) to a chess competition for fears he would be over the limit.
With Nick forcing him out of the house, he got into the car and lost control of the wheel, eventually fleeing the scene.
After being handed a six month driving ban and an 80 hour community service order, Simon caught the help of the ‘Institute’ group, something which Leanne was initially sceptical of until Rowan managed to woo her.
Leanne’s subsequently spent a hundreds of pounds attending his online self-help classes, and this week he convinces her to head off on a dodgy retreat, which she does so without saying goodbye to her family.
The move devastates Simon, who will hit the booze again after drawing parallels to his dad’s exit.
Unable to contact Leanne, Nick (Ben Price) asks Rowan to reach out to her to inform mention Simon’s spiralling behaviour, but he’s dismissive.
Later, he meets with Simon himself, and begins to fill his head with reality coding nonsense and his bizarre ideologies. As a result, the long-standing Coronation Street resident starts to pack his bags to head for the retreat.
With Toyah (Georgia Taylor) and Nick desperately trying to convince him otherwise, they take drastic action and call Peter… and it works!
They return home to find Simon unpacking his bag, revealed that Peter has offered him a job on a yacht.
We know that this storyline is to facilitate actor Alex Bain’s departure after playing the role since 2008. Will Simon get a happily ever after?