ITV Coronation Street Joel’s involvement in Lauren disappearance ‘sealed’: DNA twist to receipt clue

Coronation Street fans have been left gripped by the recent missing Lauren Bolton storyline.

Only recently, Roy Cropper has found himself arrested, charged and the number one suspect for the supposed murder of missing teenager Lauren. Soap fans will recall that troubled youngster Lauren abruptly left the cobbles earlier this year and her friend Bobby has been left concerned after he found her flat unlocked with Lauren nowhere to be seen.

Viewers never saw Lauren leave and it seems she told no one close to her of her plan to leave Weatherfield aside from Roy. Bobby reported Lauren as missing to the police and Roy has found himself under suspicion due to his kind nature, especially after he was caught innocently cleaning Lauren’s flat, which some people thought proved he was guilty and internet sleuths have since made his life a misery with a barrage of online abuse.

However, soap watchers have predicted that the real suspect is still on the cobbles as they’re convinced it is solicitor Joel Deering. Taking to social media, viewers have pointed out a series of clues that “prove” Joel is behind Lauren’s disappearance.

Soap fans will recall that earlier this year, Dee-Dee Bailey was left confused to find a jewellers receipt fall from Joel’s wallet as it was dated December and Joel had clearly spent a lot of money. Joel found Dee-Dee, Adam Barlow and Alya Nazir discussing the receipt, where he claimed he had bought himself some cufflinks.

On Monday night, Roy had a flashback of Lauren approaching the café counter with Max Turner but couldn’t figure out what was significant about their conversation. However, later this week, Roy remembers one vital detail as he contacts solicitor Dee-Dee, telling her about Lauren’s necklace and explaining that if they can trace where it’s from, they might be able to trace her mystery boyfriend, who could provide answers to her whereabouts.

With Joel being caught with an expensive jewellers receipt earlier this year, could it be just a coincidence or is it proof he is behind Lauren’s necklace? Soap fans seem to think so as one wrote on social media: “My guess is the jewellery receipt that Dee Dee found at Christmas will turn out to be Lauren’s necklace, well that’s what I think anyway.”

Villain return and DNA link

It was revealed over the weekend that evil abuser Nathan Curtis will be returning next week after seven years. Bethany Platt will be left reeling next week when she spots Nathan, who previously abused her, in the crowd at a reconstruction of Lauren’s last movements.

The police decide they need to do a reconstruction of the last known movements of the teenager in the hope of jogging the memories of the residents and hopefully finding out who kidnapped or killed Lauren, but Bethany is left shaken when she notices a man that resembles Nathan in the crowd as the reconstruction is filmed.

She soon finds out that Nathan – who she thought was still in jail – was released from prison quite a while ago and is now working on a building site nearby. Knowing his past, and what he did to her, Bethany is convinced Nathan could be behind Lauren’s supposed murder.

Taking to social media, viewers have already predicted that Joel and Nathan could be brothers in a huge DNA twist. One person said: “I wonder if Joel is a brother to Nathan Curtis?” to which a different account replied: “That’s what I begin to wonder myself too x” while another added: “Most definitely!” Elsewhere, another wrote: “I so convince that Nathan Curtis and Joel Deering are brothers.”

Recent disappearance

Earlier this month, amid Lauren’s disappearance, eagle-eyed soap fans spotted that another character was “missing” too as they questioned whether they were behind Lauren’s “murder”. Taking to Twitter, now X, one person said: “Notice how Joel has disappeared and so has Lauren? #corrie”, a different account put: “Is there a possible link to Lauren’s disappearance with Joel?” while another wrote: “My theory is Joel killed Lauren on @itvcorrie because he was secretly seeing her #Corrie #WhoKilledLauren.”