EXCLUSIVE: Coronation Street star teases Joel Deering’s downfall in ‘important’ grooming plot

Coronation Street’s DS Swain could be the one to bring down villain Joel Deering when he faces his comeuppance.

There’s no clues yet as to when Joel’s lies will be uncovered, and if he will be leaving the show. But the actor playing him has previously talked of his character having a short shelf life, as he will eventually have to be found out for his crimes.

Joel was revealed to be the person who killed Lauren Bolton earlier this year, while he’s also been grooming other girls. Setting up Nathan Curtis for Lauren’s murder, he’s remained undetected while he now seems to be targeting teenager Sabrina.

But at some point Joel will likely be exposed, and DS Swain actress Vicky Myers hopes her character will be involved. Sharing her hopes that the women of Weatherfield will take him down, Vicky spoke exclusively to The Mirror about what could come next, and the importance of the soap’s latest dark storyline.

She told us on Swain’s possible reaction to the truth about Joel: “[I don’t think she will be kicking herself]. He’s done it so cleverly and deviously that he’s duped so many people. He is in a position of trust, and he’s massively abused that trust.

“I think there is that female empowerment and they shall rise up to bring him down… I hope that’s what happens.” When asked about what could lead to Joel’s downfall, if and when it happens, she teased “who knows” and said: “I think it’s important to have every woman he’s wronged, cos there’s a whole host of women along the line.

“There’s [that] female empowerment and that is the embodiment of this show, strong female characters. So I feel like he has been ruling the roost for a bit too long. It would be brilliant each of them having their day individually or collectively.

“I’d absolutely love for Swain and Joel to have that little moment.” On the importance of the storyline, she told us: “I’ve spoken to Maggie Oliver (founder of The Maggie Oliver Foundation) who has been absolutely brilliant. She’s been wonderful with offering advice and guidance, explaining her experience and story.

“There’s relevance with that that I’d like to bring into it and the scriptwriters have been fully supportive. I’m interested to explore all of that, but also the bigger picture of raising awareness about grooming, because a lot of survivors don’t realise they’ve been groomed.

“So that’s one of the many serious aspects of this, raising awareness and education. With Lauren it runs deep because [Swain] wants to know what happened. It’s not over yet, as far as she’s concerned there’s more evidence out there but cases do move on.

“With Nathan Curtis inside, that’s that… but she likes to be the voice of the victim because Lauren’s not here. She wants to speak on behalf of her.”