The actress shared a moving message after it was confirmed that Lauren Bolton had been cleared of killing Joel Deering
Coronation Street star Cait Fitton has been flooded with messages of support as she spoke out on the end of her latest storyline as Lauren Bolton.
As fans of the ITV soap know, Weatherfield’s biggest-ever whodunnit was seen coming to a dramatic end back in November as Joel Deering’s killer was revealed as Lauren, months after it was revealed he was behind her disappearance and presumed murder after he groomed her.
Joel had arrived onto the cobbles in September 2023 as a charming solicitor who Dee-Dee Bailey soon fell head over heels in love with. But under his smooth exterior Joel was hiding a dark secret – a penchant for younger, underprivileged girls, linking him to a troubled Lauren from the moment he acted as her solicitor.
Joel later left Lauren for dead following a vicious attack when she tried to end their sexual relationship, which saw Joel paying her, and while Roy Cropper was accused of the crime, Joel did everything possible to cover his tracks. But it was eventually Joel’s fiancée Dee-Dee who finally uncovered the horrific truth, however, without hard evidence the police were forced to let him walk free.
With pressure mounting, and Dee-Dee and DS Lisa Swain not willing to let Joel get away with abusing Lauren before attempting to force her to miscarry their son, Frankie, Joel disappeared. But when his body was found following an apparent suicide, the police soon discovered that someone had in fact murdered Joel.
It was confirmed he’d been killed with a heavy weapon before entering the water and several Weatherfield residents were put in the frame – Dee-Dee, her father Ed, her uncle Ronnie, Mason Radcliffe, Lisa, Carla Connor, DC Kit Green and finally Max Turner and Lauren. It was then revealed that it was Lauren who dealt the final blow that killed Joel as he attacked Max in a train track confrontation.
This week, Lauren left the prison’s mother and baby unit for court as she and her friends prepared to take to the stand. Roy Cropper was first up and he gave Lauren a glowing character reference. But the defence tried to twist his words of praise, reminding Roy that Lauren had failed to speak out when he was wrongly accused of her murder during her disappearance.
Roy tried to turn things around and ultimately told the court that Lauren is a good person who has been mistreated but was interrupted by Brie who claimed she was attacked by Lauren in the mother and baby unit, leaving her with her arm in a sling. Dee-Dee Bailey later came to the rescue and confirmed that Brie’s outburst was a set-up by Joel’s father, Gus.
But when on the stand, Lauren did herself no favours by lashing out at the prosecution barrister. In the end though, as seen during Wednesday night’s (January 22) Corrie, the jury saw that Lauren was telling the truth about trying to save her boyfriend from being hurt by Joel and they found her not guilty of murder.
Following the scenes, Cait took to Instagram to reflect on this part of Lauren’s journey coming to a close as she continued to show her support for the real-life victims having worked with The Maggie Oliver Foundation on the storyline.
Alongside a moody black and white photo of filming Lauren’s court scenes, the actress wrote on Instagram: “I just want to start off by saying , what a honour it’s been to portray and bring this storyline to light. The past year and a half has been life changing to say that least. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has reached out and shared their love on Loz, the show and the storyline . The edits , the comments , the personal experiences you guys have shared with me , who have found themselves in situations similar to Lauren, has opened my eyes and truly shown how important it is to educate people on this topic that unfortunately does happen today.
“The fans that watch the show , day in day out , we couldn’t do this without you. Your dedication to the show is what keeps us going .
Despite the storyline coming to a close , I hope we have done enough to highlight the issue of grooming , the signs , the affect it has on an individual and to create a platform where people are no longer afraid to speak up. I hope we can continue to raise awareness to help create a safe space for people to come forward , to turn their PAIN into POWER.
“Thank you again to @coronationstreet for giving me this opportunity, and of course the amazing @maggieoliveruk for working closely with us to bring people stories and experiences to light. All my love, C.” The post was quickly flooded with messages of support for Cait’s work on the story including from Maggie Oliver who said: “You have done an INCREDIBLE job portraying Lauren and her vulnerable have @coronationstreet and we @themaggieoliverfoundation are very proud to have been able to help with this important storyline.”
