Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) got quite a shock in recent Coronation Street scenes when Joel Deering (Calum Lill) made an unexpected move.

When Dee-Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown) visited Lauren in the hospital, it was clear that Joel was at the forefront of the young mum’s mind, as she revealed to Dee-Dee that she couldn’t stop checking the tracker they’d put on his phone.

She was quick to reveal that Joel’s movements seemed suspicious, pointing out that he had spent hours in fields and industrial estates.

However, that wasn’t the most concerning thing he’d done.

Lauren confided in Dee-Dee that she had received a transfer of £5000 from Joel, with no explanations or demands attached.

Dee-Dee agreed that this was bizarre, and tried to reason that he had pawned their wedding rings – though she recognised that they wouldn’t have been worth that much.

As the pair tried to work out why Joel had sent her the money, the best Dee-Dee could come up with was that he wanted her to spend it, before claiming that he had sent it in error and leaving her in debt.

However, things got even more peculiar later that day when Dee-Dee received a text from Joel’s ex-wife Emily, who revealed that she too had received the same large some of money.

This left Dee-Dee and Lauren totally baffled, and at a complete loss as to why Joel would send the money.

Joel is no stranger to playing mind games, having previously groomed Lauren before brutally attacking her and leaving her for dead.

When she returned to the cobbles pregnant, he continued to manipulate and gaslight her, before drugging her to induce an early labour.

Though it is unclear exactly what Joel is up to, he surely has an ulterior motive – but just what does he have planned?