Only Lauren Bolton – and viewers – know just what the solicitor is capable of after his true colours were finally uncovered

Coronation Street fans have issued a warning over Joel Deering as they fear his next move. Only Lauren Bolton – and viewers of the ITV soap – know just what the solicitor is capable of after his true colours were finally uncovered.

When Joel first arrived in Weatherfield as the new love interest of Dee-Dee Bailey last year, Corrie fans were unsure whether to trust him. And their gut feeling about the character, played by Calum Lill, was soon proved to be right after it was revealed he was behind the sudden disappearance of Lauren Bolton’ after he left her for dead.

Months after she went missing, 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.

Since her return to Weatherfield, Joel has been secretly housing Lauren in his old flat after he moved in with Dee-Dee ahead of their September wedding. However, Corrie 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.

But despite Joel’s emotional outburst around his premature baby, Corrie fans fear just how far he’ll go to conceal the truth. @BSupport73 begged: “Get away Joel from that baby now you better not do anything to it #Corrie.” @DavidBoink pleaded: “Dont leave the baby with his father whatever you do, Lauren #Corrie.” @RyanTheSoapking added: “Joel acting like he cares about Lauren’s baby. If he cared he wouldn’t have poisoned Lauren to try and kill her baby#Corrie.”

Meanwhile, actor Calum Lill has teased just how far Joel will go to keep his secret hidden, and it even scared him. He said: “Obviously, I can’t say how far, but its further than I thought he would go. When I read it I was scared to even play it, because it was that dark! He’ll go to any lengths that he needs to.”