Viewers of the ITV soap have seen Max, played by Paddy Bever, charged with Joel’s murder

Coronation Street star Paddy Bever has admitted his ‘relief’ at his character’s killer secret being revealed as he was charged with the murder of Joel Deering – but is it all as it seems?

Weatherfield’s biggest whodunnit has been underway ever since the solicitor’s body was found last month. As fans of the ITV soap know, Joel first went missing at the end of September. The news was revealed when he failed to show up to court where it was thought that he’d face comeuppance for some of his twisted crimes.

But after transferring money to Lauren Bolton, his grooming victim and now the mother of his son Frankie, and his ex-wife Emily, as well leaving an emotional voicemail for his former fiancée Dee-Dee Bailey, it was believed Joel may have taken his own life after his car was found abandoned.

The police carried on investigating and it wasn’t long before the case became a murder investigation after Joel’s body was found floating down a river. However, it was confirmed he’d been killed with a heavy weapon before entering the water and several people have since been put in the frame.

Joel’s wronged ex Dee-Dee Bailey, her dad Ed and Uncle Ronnie are all on the suspects list. Bad boy Mason Radcliffe also found himself in the frame along with DS Lisa Swain, who was removed from the case after Joel’s involvement with her daughter Betsy was revealed, and the detective investigating the mystery himself DC Kit Green.

But earlier this week, Corrie viewers saw Lisa arrested by Kit and was questioned at the station after her CS spray was found alongside a bloodied brick thought to be the new murder weapon. With all the evidence now pointing in her direction, a panicked Carla Connor pleaded Lisa’s case to Roy Cropper.

Ed was also in the café at the time and claimed there was more to come to light after Dee-Dee, who confessed to hitting Joel with a crowbar but left him alive, had said she’d confronted Joel after seeing him with a suitcase in tow attempting to do a runner after initially faking his own death.

Then, in another revealing flashback, viewers saw Carla leaving the factory on the night Joel disappeared. At first viewers thought she herself may have something to hide but as she called out to someone, viewers were shocked this time to see for the first time that it was Max and Lauren outside No.8 Coronation Street in the dead of night putting a suitcase into the boot of David Platt’s car.

During Wednesday night’s episode (November 13), Lisa confided in Carla that she believed she was being framed by Joel’s killer, and she was terrified that more planted evidence would turn up. Using what she knows, Carla confronted Max and Lauren only for them to keep up their story that they were planning to do a runner to evade Joel.

But Carla reported them to the police and while they planned to go on the run, Lauren told Max she couldn’t go through with it because of baby Frankie. He convinced her to take him with them but he ended up confessing to Kit that he had murdered Joel. He revealed how he had confronted him using Lisa’s CS spray, only to have been overpowered by Joel, who strangled him while holding him over the edge of a bridge.

Max recalled how he picked up a rock and hit Joel with it, before pushing his body into the river below and running off with his suitcase. Following his confession, Max was charged with murder but with Joel’s killer set to be revealed later this week, is Max telling the truth.

Speaking about keeping Max’s involvement in Joel’s death a secret, actor Paddy Bever said it was difficult: “People have been constantly asking me and commenting on my Instagram things like, ‘Who killed Joel?” or, ‘We know it was you!’ A lot of people also seem to think that Joel’s still alive and has faked his own death, so it’s good that we don’t have to actually hide it anymore.

“The storyline is really complex, it’s not just a cold-blooded murder, there’s lots of people involved and who have done shady things, so I think that’s what’s great about it because the blame doesn’t solely lie on one person.”

Revealing how long he’s known Max would be charged for Joel’s murder, Paddy revealed: “I was told by Verity Macleod around spring this year, so I had a period of time to sit with it. I was really excited for Max, I remember when I heard the storyline and just thinking, ‘Yeah, I love that’ especially because it aligns with Max’s character, he would do anything for the people he loves, especially Lauren.” 2

And he’s loved being part of the huge new storyline. I really enjoyed it,” he said. “I thought it was terrifying because all of these people had done so much amazing work on this story, really, and I kind of come in at the end and have all the final scenes to do. In terms of that, it was amazing and I didn’t really know what to expect because I wasn’t involved in the filming leading up to it, but at the same time, it was quite nerve racking trying to match what was already filmed, which hopefully I did and won’t be letting anyone down!”