Lauren Bolton gave birth to her son in the ITV soap after being drugged by Joel Deering

Coronation Street fans think there will is a DNA twist ahead – but not for the new baby born in Weatherfield. As viewers of the ITV soap know, Lauren Bolton gave birth to her son after being drugged by Joel Deering.

It’s only been a few months since Corrie fans saw Joel’s true colours as it was revealed he was behind the teen’s sudden disappearance from the street, with a flashback clip showing him shockingly attacking her with a chair leg before leaving her for dead.

It was last month that it was revealed Lauren was alive as she returned to the cobbles to visit a sick Roy Cropper, who has been accused of her murder and sent to prison before being exonerated. During her visit, she was accosted by Joel and the truth about what happened between the pair was uncovered.

After a scared – and pregnant – Lauren did another runner from Joel, she was eventually found by Joel’s fiancee Dee-Dee Bailey and Bethany Platt and taken to hospital where she was quickly on DS Lisa Swain’s radar.

Since leaving the hospital, Joel has been secretly housing Lauren in his old flat after he moved in with Dee-Dee ahead of their September wedding. However, viewers were horrified to discover that Joel’s plans to get Lauren to Ireland appeared to be a ploy and instead, he ordered tablets and secretly added them to some soup which spurred on her early labour.

He had locked her in the flat meaning Lauren was alone and trapped before friend Max Turner eventually came to her rescue and Lauren was later taken to the hospital where she gave birth at six months pregnant to a baby boy.

During Monday nights (August 5) Corrie, a distraught Lauren watched on as her baby boy lay in an incubator, willing for him to get better. She was supported by Max and Bobby Crawford but as soon as they had gone, Joel arrived and was able to meet his newborn son.

He quickly got to work in manipulating Lauren into deleting an email she had scheduled to send to Swain, exposing the solicitor for who he really is. He brought her a new phone and attempted to talk her round, which seemed to work as she let them see their son before going on the phone and telling him the email had been deleted.

Things then got emotional when Lauren revealed she had decided to name her son Francis, in a tribute to her grandfather, prompting Joel to reveal his own grandfather had the same name, leaving him bursting into tears when out of Lauren’s sight, only for Dee-Dee to show up.

But following the name reveal, Corrie fans have pondered whether a huge twist could be on the cards. @cazdenham said: “Why was Joel so upset when he found out the baby’s name? He said his grandad had the same name! Maybe he realised they have the same grandad and Lauren is his cousin!”

@soapsfan_x commented: “I was not expecting Lauren and Joel having the same named grandfather! AT ALL!!!” @matt_johnson_89 wrote: “Hang on- Lauren and Joel’s grandads had the same name? #Corrie.” @Sondotcom21 asked: “Same grandad name, are they related?! #corrie.” @ASuperGav added: “Oh, Lord. Are we heading for an incest story? That’s all we need #Corrie.”