Fans of the ITV soap are struggling to believe the solicitor is really gone

Coronation Street fans think there will be an idenity twist as they struggle to believe Joel Deering is really gone. The character has been loathed by viewers of the ITV soap after his squeaky clean image was shattered by the reveal of him being Lauren Bolton’s ‘secret boyfriend’.

Joel, who first arrived on the cobbles as Dee-Dee Bailey’s love interest last year, was revealed earlier this year to have groomed Lauren and was behind her disappearance and presumed murder after he was seen attacking her with a chair leg.

Luckily, the teen survived and returned to Weatherfield over the summer when Roy Cropper fell ill following his release from prison after being wrongly accused of being behind Lauren’s disappearance and presumed murder.

When he and Lauren were reunited, it was revealed that Joel started by helping Lauren with money for bills and living expenses, before forcing him to sleep with her for money and he quickly discovered she was now expecting his child.

It was revealed that when they tried to end things that Joel turned nasty, with the mention of his fiancee Dee-Dee Bailey finding out that finally tipped him over the edge and saw him attack Lauren. He lied and said he’d tried to help her when viewers were shown how he’d returned to the flat, only to find Lauren gone.

After Lauren’s return, Joel’s partner Dee-Dee Bailey discovered what her fiancé had been up to and has since teamed up with DS Lisa Swain to bring Joel down after it was revealed that Lauren, who was pregnant when she came back to the cobbles, wasn’t the only young girl he had groomed, with Swain’s daughter Betsy also involved with him.

But at the end of last month Corrie, viewers saw Joel not show up to his plea hearing and a warrant was issued for his arrest. After transferring money to Lauren and his ex-wife Emily, it was believed Joel may end up taking his own life.

Kit ended up doing more digging after Swain was taken off the case due to Betsy’s involvement, and on Monday night’s (October 14), Corrie that viewers saw Kit and PC Craig Tinker studying CCTV from a train station car park, in which they saw Joel and then his dad, Gus, around a locker.

Gus was hauled in for questioning by Kit, who was demanding answers, only for three lads at a riverbank to spot a body floating in the water. Craig approached Swain and Kit and announced that they’ve found Joel’s body. Kit went to break the news to Dee Dee and Lauren at the hospital while Lisa ended up revealing the news to people in the Rovers.

But Kit was later seen calling back at the hospital and told Lauren that the post-mortem revealed that Joel was dead before he entered the river, so they’re now looking at a murder investigation. He went on to question Lauren about where she was on the night of Joel’s death, the 27th of September.

Corrie fans, however, think a DNA twist could be on the cards and that it’s not actually Joel who is dead after it was previously revealed in spoilers that Mason Radcliffe will be found by Kit trying to dispose of a crowbar.

@rednwhite99 said: “Nah it’s not Joel he will be back at Christmas it’s probably masons brother killed by mason that’s found wrongly id as Joel #Corrie.” @DavidJosephLaw2 commented: “I wonder if Joel could be Masons brother. Have we ever seen them together? And we haven’t seen Masons parents yet and he keeps saying his brothers hit him, he could have killed him. #Corrie.”

@Kel_elizabeth posted: “Probably isn’t even Joel. Someone elses body with his ID on it. He was in water after all, wouldn’t have been recognisable. How they even get an ID so fast #Corrie.” @I_am_KenBarlow added: “#Corrie I reckon that’s not Joel’s body. Mistaken identity!”