EXCLUSIVE: Coronation Street star defends cruel Billy twist as he teases emotional Paul death fallout
Coronation Street fans saw a devastating twist as Paul Foreman died on the ITV soap on Monday night, with partner Billy Mayhew unable to make it in time
Daniel Brocklebank who plays Coronation Street’s Billy Mayhew has reacted to a devastating twist on the ITV soap, following onscreen husband Paul Foreman’s death.
Paul passed away in devastating scenes on Monday night with his loved ones by his side. But in a cruel twist, the character’s husband Billy wasn’t there for his final moments.
Billy had just begun to say his goodbyes over the phone to his beloved partner when Paul took his final breath. Billy was racing to the hospital to be with him and when he got there, Paul had sadly died and he was too late.
Billy has no idea Paul passed before Billy began his message to him, played on loud speaker, with Paul’s mother Bernie Winter lying to him that he was still alive. It’s yet to be revealed whether Billy will find out the truth, but actor Daniel told The Mirror the twist was “important”.
Explaining why he believed the devastating twist was necessary, Daniel told us that “death isn’t perfect” and things do not always go as planned. He said: “I think it’s important to tell a story where death isn’t perfect.
Daniel Brocklebank who plays Coronation Street’s Billy Mayhew has reacted to a devastating twist (
ITV)
“We can’t all be there surrounded by loved ones, and have this beautiful passing, and that was what we were telling here. Things don’t always work out the way you want them to.”
Daniel revealed that if Billy ever did learn the truth, it could break him as he teased months of grief ahead for his character. He said: “I think it could break him if he did find out. He’s holding onto the fact that yes, he wasn’t there in person but Paul took his last breath knowing he was loved.
“Billy was trying to get there to him. If he found out it wasn’t the case it would break his heart.” On what’s ahead, Daniel went on: “It’s been interesting, Jane [Hazlegrove] and I spoke about this when we shot the stuff where Paul died it.
“It felt like we’d been working up to that moment for the last 18 months and then we realised there was months of grief to play. Yes we plateaued on one level, but we’ve still got a massive emotional hill to keep climbing.”