Coronation Street villain Megan Walsh made a surprise return – as disgusted viewers branded the scenes as ‘creepy’.
The athletics coach – played by Beth Nixon – groomed and manipulated teenage student Will Driscoll (Lucas Hodgson-Wale) over several months.
After Megan’s actions were revealed, she was subsequently arrested as Will grappled with what happened to him.
In Monday’s (May 25) installment, a viral video emerged of Megan having a milkshake thrown over her – distressing Will in the process.
The schoolboy became further enraged after overhearing dad Ben (Aaron McCusker) and stepmother Eva (Catherine Tyldesley) discussing how ‘damaged’ he was.
After being confronted by Sam Blakeman (Jude Riordan), who has been having hallucinations of Will threatening him, the teen turned to vodka to cope.
Coronation Street villain Megan Walsh made a surprise return – but viewers were not happy about this
He stood on the shop floor scaffolding, swigging from the bottle as Asha Alahan (Tanisha Gorey) attempted to talk him down.
It ultimately took Will’s grandmother Maggie (Pauline McLynn) to climb up and get through to him – as Eva, Ben and stepsister Susie (Aurora Bradshaw) watched on.
With Will now safe, Eva suggested they all return to the pub, but the drama did not end there.
As Will put out the bins that evening, he was approached by Megan, who had been secretly observing him.
Grabbing his arm, she said: ‘Will, I’ve missed you!’, only for the schoolboy to say he wanted nothing to do with her.
Megan went on: ‘I’m sorry that you felt like that, but I thought we were in love! We can still be friends!’, as Will reiterated she should go away.
Unbeknown to both, Hope Stape (Isabella Flanagan) witnessed the exchange but soon fled the scene.
One viewer wrote on X: ‘Megan being such a f****** creeper watching the situation, only so she can try and pray on Will’s fragile mental state again I bet.’
Another added: ‘Hurry up and lock Megan up ffs!’
While a third penned: ‘It’s nice that Hope is trying to offer support to Will.
However, Megan was taken by surprise as Will made it crystal clear that he wanted nothing to do with her
‘I’m glad she saw Megan trying to harass Will, so she can’t lie and claim she didn’t.
‘And I’m even more glad to see Will slag Megan off and start to take his power back.’
Appearing on This Morning last month, Megan actress Beth Nixon told Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley about her experience playing out the harrowing storyline.
They were also joined by the show’s soaps expert, Sharon Marshall, who lifted the lid on a behind the scenes fact that Beth told her.
Sharon said: ‘I didn’t realise until you said it backstage, we’ve never actually seen you kiss the actor – because the actor himself was 17.
‘So you’ve protected the actor on-screen.’
Meanwhile, Beth elaborated: ‘It’s obviously helped me, it’s made it easier for me.
‘There’s a barrier of the level of intimacy that we have. I didn’t even know that going into filming.
It’s really interesting – when I tell people that we’ve never kissed, they’re really surprised.
‘They’re like, “You have, you definitely have” and I’m like, “No, no, no”, we haven’t.
‘It’s just implied and we get creative in how we’re going to end the scene where there should be a kiss.’
Beth also discussed taking on the character, as she said: ‘It’s such an honour to be trusted with a storyline like that… it’s so delicate.
‘There’s so much in it. I get to work with a lot of the greats there as well. It’s just been amazing. It’s just been amazing from start to finish.’
Beth went on: ‘She’s got like a god complex about herself. She doesn’t think that she’s doing anything wrong, ever.
‘She believes her own lies, massively. Even if she does something and then denies it, in her own brain, she didn’t do it. That’s just the way that her brain works.
‘Massive narcissist and yeah, just completely out for herself.’
Addressing public reaction to the character of Megan, Beth explained: ‘I’ve been really lucky.
Athletics coach Megan groomed and manipulated teenage student Will Driscoll over several months in scenes that have disgusted viewers
‘I think because I’m a woman… if it were the other way around, I think the public reaction would be a lot different. People are not that bad, you know?
‘I get people saying, “Oh she’s naughty, ain’t she?”, but I think because I’m a woman it’s slightly more forgiving.
‘That’s the whole reason we’re doing the storyline – it’s up for debate.
‘When it’s an older woman it’s kind of seen as a “rite of passage” for young boys, but obviously that’s not the case.
‘Will is a child and Megan is an adult and she’s in a position of trust.
‘But the public have been alright, fingers crossed.’
Coronation Street airs on ITV1 and ITVX.
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