Coronation Street star Gareth Pierce has admitted ‘it’s just horrible’ as he opened up about the development of his on-screen domestic abuse plot.

Those who follow the ITV soap are keen for Todd Grimshaw to leave Theo Silverton as his behaviour continues to be concerning to those watching.

But those surrounding Todd, and the man himself, seem to be unaware of what he is really facing at the hands of Theo, who only arrived into his life earlier this year in a chance meeting on the cobbles.

The pair’s relationship has since faced its troubles, particularly with the backlash from Theo’s family and the arrival of Noah Hedley, a church clerk who practised conversion therapy on Theo.

While Noah has since died suddenly, Todd is now unknowingly falling deeper into a coercively controlling relationship with his partner, who was revealed to have been this way with partners in the past after bumping into one during a recent cobbles day out at Manchester’s Gay Village.

New spoilers for upcoming Corrie scenes has uncovered Todd’s fear around Theo, as his behaviour continues to be unpredictable. Theo worries as he reads an email from ex-wife Danielle’s solicitor detailing her maintenance demands, especially after losing Pete’s contract.

When Maria Windass reveals how Theo lost his temper with Pete, threatened him and now the business is hanging in the balance, his partner is left shocked. As Gary Windass does his best to placate Pete in the hope he’ll change his mind, Todd approaches and is horrified to recognise Pete as the man in his flat.

Later, at the yard, Gary spells out to Theo that his one night stand has damaged the business and it’s best they go their separate ways., leaving Theo fuming.

Todd gives Sarah Platt and Harry a lift but when Harry spills his milkshake on the back seat of the car, Todd’s horrified, clearly worried about Theo’s reaction. Sarah apologises profusely for the mess, but to Todd’s surprise, Theo takes it in his stride.

However once inside Theo rails at Todd for his total disrespect for his new car. Todd’s apologetic and promises to have it professionally cleaned.

Sharing how Todd feels at this time, Gareth revealed: “t’s just horrible, I think the audience will already be noticing the ways that Todd is briefly relaxed with his friends and his close confidants like Sarah, George, Billy and then when Theo enters the room straight away he’s back in that tense people pleasing, anticipatory kind of headspace.

“It’s that horrible feeling, like when you go into school and you haven’t done your homework and you have that feeling in the pit of your stomach. It takes you back to childhood, when there he was doing Sarah a favour, having fun with his mate of so many years and then in that one moment that Harry spills the milkshake, suddenly he’s thinking oh no, what’s this going to do for me and my domestic situation, and what’s Theo going to be like when he finds out?

“Because Todd’s in that eggshells phase, he’s having a dysfunctional reaction to that as well, he’s thinking I’ve got to cover it up, I’ve got to find a way to get this repaired without him even finding out. So then you’ve got Todd lying within the relationship and acting in an unhealthy way because the unhealthy relationship has altered what’s normal and acceptable behaviour.”

Once all traces of milkshake removed, Todd’s relieved, but as he reverses, he scrapes the car. Todd climbs out and looks at the scratch in horror, dreading Theo’s reaction.

Asked about Theo’s reaction, Gareth shared: “It’s going to be another spike in that constant vibrating mood there is in that flat now. That flat is such a tense space for Todd, whereas it’s his new home, it should be one of the few places where he feels entirely relaxed.

“That’s a horrible situation to be in anyway and it causes great stress and anxiety. There’s a moment where Todd thinks that maybe he’s been able to get everything sorted and repaired and that it’ll be smooth sailing.

“But then sadly in that moment of real tension, he finds out that it’s not all okay and we have one of those real upsurges in fury that we know you can get from Theo. It’s shocking and it’s very much directed at Todd.”

On whether Todd is genuinely scared of Theo, Gareth admitted: “Definitely, that kebab moment was genuinely scary for Todd, and he’s tried to communicate that to Thea. There’s definitely a sense now that Theo is a more physically imposing character than Todd is as well so he’s definitely scared of him physically.”

But on Todd’s motive to stay with Theo, the soap star added: “But there is still love there somewhere in the relationship and Todd feels like he can maybe anticipate or fix Theo.”