It was last year that Joel Deering first arrived in Weatherfield as the new love interest of Dee-Dee Bailey

Coronation Street star Calum Lill has wondered whether people are ‘scared’ to talk to him as he discussed the public’s reaction to the true colours of his character being exposed.

It was last year that Joel Deering first arrived in Weatherfield as the new love interest of Dee-Dee Bailey. Things quickly got cosy between the two solicitors and they embarked on a relationship, with Joel sticking around the street.

But what Dee-Dee doesn’t know is just how dark and sinister husband-to-be really is after it was revealed he was behind the sudden disappearance of Lauren Bolton’ after he left her for dead.

The teen had been missing without a trace since February before suddenly returning last month. It was revealed in May, three months after Lauren was last seen in Weatherfield, that it was Joel who was behind her disappearance – not Roy Cropper as DS Lisa Swain decided when she charged him with Lauren’s presumed murder.

It was in May that a flashback clip revealed him to be Lauren’s secret ‘boyfriend’ before viewers were shown him brutally attacking her with a chair leg. After that, Corrie fans were left to ponder for months whether Lauren had survived the ordeal and it was confirmed she did when she appeared by Roy’s bedside in the hospital after he suffered a heart attack.

However, as she tried to make an exit from the hospital, she was grabbed by Joel before the truth about what happened between the pair before the shock attack was uncovered.

In flashback scenes during their intense confrontation, it was revealed that Joel first met Lauren at the police station when he was the duty solicitor. He then later offered to pay her bills before repeatedly giving her cash and showering her with gifts, while expecting sex in return.

On the day she vanished, Joel lashed out violently at Lauren following a mention of his current fiancée, Dee-Dee Bailey. Joel took off, while Lauren feigned death and has since been in hiding, jumping from hostel to hostel, terrified for her safety. But the biggest twist was that the teen is now pregnant with Joel’s baby.

Speaking about whether he’s had much interaction with fans while out and about following the big reveal, and while Corrie fans eagerly await him getting his comeuppance, Calum said: “I get a lot of double takes usually in the supermarket. Because I’m a baddie, less people speak to me because they’re scared I might do something bad – obviously not I’m an actor!

“The way it goes is there’ll be some woman looking down at some vegetables, she’ll look up, look back down, look back up, realise it’s me, her jaw will drop and then she’ll go over to her husband and tap him furiously and start whispering. And he’ll be clueless as to what she’s talking about! That’s usually the way it goes. It makes me smile!”

Quizzed further, the soap star added: “I think I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve tried to be quite active on social media to create some sort of separation between me and the character, and the video of my grandma’s reaction to Joel is doing quite well, people seem to have realised I’m not Joel!”