Bethany Platt’s budding romance with Ryan Connor takes a dark turn in Coronation Street, when Ryan ends up in hospital after their first date.
Teenager Bethany (Lucy Fallon) has been through a tough time after being groomed by evil Nathan Curtis and then becoming a lapdancer, but things appear to be looking up when she catches the eye of Ryan (Ryan Prescott).
However, their date does not go as planned when a misunderstanding leads Bethany’s mum Sarah (Tina O’Brien) to believe Ryan tried to force himself on her daughter.
O’Brien said Sarah does not know about the date but assumes the worst when she sees Bethany “running down the hallway out of the flats with her blouse undone”.
“Bethany is hysterical and then the next thing she sees is Ryan coming out of the flat with his top off and Bethany runs off,” she said.
“She jumps to the obvious conclusion that Ryan has tried to force himself on Bethany – she doesn’t realise that it was Bethany who panicked and ran off.”
Sarah confronts Ryan about what happened and ends up slapping and shoving him – but has no idea that he has hit his head badly.
O’Brien said: “The first she knows is when they see Ryan being brought out of Victoria Court on a stretcher.
“Craig assumes Bethany must have hit him but she insists she didn’t.
“Sarah can’t understand how her slapping him could have resulted in those injuries so she is confused.”
She goes to the hospital and apologises to Ryan, but he shows no sign of remembering what happened.
“His reaction shocks her and is not what she expected at all, it is a real game changer for Sarah,” said the actress.
“She has a big decision to make.”
Coronation Street continues on ITV.