Channique Sterling-Brown revealed she spoke to bosses about her character finding out the truth
Coronation Street star Channique Sterling-Brown revealed she spoke to bosses about her character finding out the truth about Joel Deering once and for all.
Viewers of the ITV soap have been begging for Dee-Dee Bailey to discover who she is really marrying after it was revealed that Joel, played by Calum Lill, was behind the disappearance – and one point the presumed death – of Lauren Bolton.
It was revealed in May, three months after Lauren, played by Cait Fitton, was last seen in Weatherfield, that it was Joel who was behind her disappearance – not Roy Cropper as DS Lisa Swain decided when she charged him with Lauren’s presumed murder.
A flashback clip showed Joel shockingly beating Lauren with a chair leg and Corrie fans were then left for months to ponder whether Lauren had survived the ordeal. It was eventually confirmed she did when she appeared by Roy’s bedside in the hospital after he suffered a heart attack.
But before she could leave undetected, she was accosted by Joel before an intense confrontation, with the help of flashback clips, revealed what really went on between the pair. The scenes saw Joel helping Lauren with bills before he started giving her money in exchange for sex.
When Lauren wanted to end what was going on, Joel refused but when she mentioned telling his fiance Dee-Dee all, he snapped and that’s when he attacked Lauren. The teen shared how she feared for her life and it wasn’t long before she revealed she was pregnant with his baby.
Joel has since secretly housed Lauren in his flat as he moved in with his fiance Dee-Dee ahead of their September wedding before, in another horrifying move, triggered Lauren to prematurely give birth to their son after drugging her.
In upcoming scenes, Dee-Dee becomes suspicious of Joel’s behaviour and assumes he may be cheating on her. But spoilers for next week’s Corrie has now revealed that Dee-Dee will Google the jewellers where Joel made out he bought Maeve’s bracelet. As she looks at other items worth £300 she’s stunned by what she finds.
Speaking about Dee-Dee discovering the truth and her subsequent reaction, Channique said: “The one thing I said to the producers at the start of this storyline was ‘she’s not stupid and I don’t want her to look stupid’ and there’s this whole chapter where she is in the dark. It’s been really important to establish this relationship because Joel has gotten to know Dee-Dee so well which has allowed him to manipulate her to the best of his ability.
“A lot of people find themselves in situations where they’ve been deceived and we’ve got to do them justice by not just having them seem like a rose-tinted glasses type of person. As abusers and narcissists like Joel do, they ensure they have completely sold a different version of who they really are and that was really important for me to portray.”
Dee-Dee will also be seen visiting Lauren in hospital and when the teen and new mum reveals that she’ll soon be moving to Belfast, she covers her shock. As Dee-Dee points out the coincidence to Joel he gives nothing away but determined to get to the truth, Dee-Dee follows Joel.
Sharing how Dee-Dee felt about the Belfast connection, the actress said: “It’s a strange one for Dee-Dee because she almost didn’t want to let her mind go as far as that as it will confirm her worst fears. At the same time, because of the type of person Dee-Dee is, she just needs to know the truth and there’s a real battle going on inside her mind.”
But later Dee-Dee”s left stunned at Joel’s audacity as she demands the truth. Then, at the end of the week, when summoned by Dee-Dee, Joel’s ex-wife Emily calls at the solicitors and Dee-Dee braces herself for a tough conversation.
