Coronation Street 2026 spoilers revealed: Swarla wedding, time jump and murder shock

Coronation Street boss Kate Brooks has revealed huge spoilers for 2026, including a special flash forward episode teasing a death, as well as a wedding and a Maggie Driscoll twist

If you thought Corriedale was explosive, wait until you see what Coronation Street is lining up for the year ahead.

Brand new teasers confirm huge twists, special episodes and earth-shattering storylines. Soap boss Kate Brooks has told The Mirror all about the upcoming months, and you may want to sit down.

We have a flashforward that confirms a shocking death months before it airs. Huge secrets are exposed for more than one character, and we learn all about one fan favourite’s past.

There’s dark scenes and characters face the big consequences of their actions. There could also finally be some happy scenes for some, with it teased a wedding could well and truly be on the way.

Time jump and death leads to a whodunnit

The biggest twist of this year is bound to be a special flashforward episode, that jumps months ahead. It will reveal a shocking death set to air later this year, while we won’t know the victim for a while.

Instead we find out who it could be, and later on we learn who might have committed the crime after a body is discovered. Kate revealed: “We’ve got a special episode coming up mid-February, and in that episode, we are doing a little bit of a flash-forward.

“This is something that’s been in the making for a really long time, and it gives us a destination for some big stories, for them to all come together and be involved in a much bigger, bigger storyline. Essentially, during the course of our flash forward episode, we discover that one of our characters has found a dead body on the street, and we don’t know who it is.

“There are five potential victims and we’ll take the audience on a journey for them to try and figure out who that body is, what happened, what’s the backstory to it and how did they get to that place? Why did that person die and when did they die?

“Obviously this will be quite an intriguing story. It’s our big thriller-esque story as we go into spring, early summer. It will involve an awful lot of the community. I don’t think I’ve ever told a story that involves quite as many character groups.

“Everyone’s impacted, everyone’s affected by the story, and there are so many twists and so many turns. It’s been a real challenge in some ways, because it is so complex and intricate. But it’s so exciting, and just when we think that the story’s going in one direction, we absolutely do a U-turn and go into a completely different direction.

“It’ll keep people guessing until the very end, and don’t be fooled by what you think is happening, because that might not be the case. It’s a few months [into the future].” It’s thought the reveal of who is dead will spark a whodunnit to follow.

Will Theo be rumbled after Billy’s death?

Todd’s abuse at the hands of Theo will continue this year, as Billy’s tragic death, also at the hands of Theo, sees him taking advantage, and manipulating Todd once more. But it might not be long before people start to notice not all is as it seems.

Kate told us: “Todd’s all over the shop, he doesn’t feel like he’s got the strength to go through with leaving Theo. He’s feeling really worthless, he’s feeling like if he’d not spoken to Billy on that night about what had happened, then maybe Billy could have still been alive.

“That’s what Theo hones in on, the fact that Todd is still quite vulnerable, and is still prone to needing someone to kind of lift him up. Theo, who’s obviously ravaged by his own guilt, did something absolutely despicable, but he felt, and he justifies it as being absolutely necessary to keep hold of Todd.

“He does everything he can to try be an absolute pillar of support for Todd, for Summer, for George. He’s an absolute rock, and part of this is about masking his own guilt, but also he knows how close he came to losing Todd.

“We’ll see Theo becoming more manipulative and start to pull Todd back into his fold. We know what Theo’s like, we know what he’s capable of, we know the hell that he’s been putting Todd through, but we also know that Todd is extremely vulnerable, and he’s exposed at this point. So we will see that relationship continue, but obviously we can’t sustain this forever, and certainly Todd will start to realise that maybe all is not what it seems, as will other people around Todd.”

Swarla wedding

Lisa Swain and Carla Connor haven’t had it easy in recent months, ever since Lisa’s ex-wife Becky Swain came into their lives. She tore them apart, splitting them up with her manipulation and her determination to get her family back.

With a downfall set as she was finally caught out, will Lisa and Carla find a way to move forward? Kate suggested we may finally get a Swarla wedding this year.

She told us: “Becky was an absolute obstacle thrown their way, and her true colours have absolutely been revealed for all to see. Lisa’s finally kind of realised the extent of the manipulation and the lies that Becky’s told.

“We’ll see them starting to make their way back to each other. There’s a lot to get past, but they love each other, and that love never faltered throughout it at all. The ghost of Becky is finally being put to bed. They can move forward with their lives, and they can look forward to their future together.

“They were engaged, so wedding bells are certainly ringing in the not-too-distant future, and they’ll get their happy ever after, and the chance to finally be free from Becky and the drama that surrounded that story, and be happy with and content with each other. It’s gonna be a romantic spring for Carla and Lisa, which will make many people smile.”

Maggie’s Barlow house scene finally explained

Remember that random scene of Maggie Driscoll looking shocked, after rummaging through a cupboard in Ken Barlow’s house? Well that’s finally set to be explained it seems. Kate spilled: “There are other secrets as well that Maggie’s been hiding. Some eagle-eyed viewers might have spotted Maggie at number 1.

“She looks into the cabinet, and her reaction kind of suggested that she saw something that made her feel slightly on edge or uncomfortable. We will reveal what that secret is in the upcoming months.”

Debbie’s future

We’ve seen Debbie Webster living with dementia and its symptoms in recent months, and things took a worrying turn this week. After a car crash in Corriedale, we saw Carl Webster set her up as the driver, with Debbie claiming this was the truth.

But what does the future store for Debbie? Kate revealed: “We’ve not fully explored the impact of dementia and how that takes its toll on her as a character, so we’re still early stages, and we’ve still got a long way to go.

“The drama that unfolded during Corriedale has put Debbie in a really precarious situation, where she’s determined to take the rap for Carl. She’s confused at this point, she doesn’t know really what happened, and, we assume that she genuinely doesn’t know that Carl’s interfered and swapped places with her.

“So, obviously with the nature of the crime and the seriousness of it, that could lend itself to a prison sentence. So she’s facing that massive threat. She’s gonna need her gal pals, Glenda and Christina and Bernie and Sally to kind of really rally and get her through these kind of darker moments, as she kind of braces herself for a future that is looking quite uncertain at the minute.

“Getting sent to prison if you’ve got early onset dementia must be a terrifying prospect, so she’s struggling with all these emotions. There’s lots of secrets as well that we explode and explore, with that family.”

Big consequences for Bernie

Another character taking centre stage is Bernie Winter, who will struggle in the wake of her son-in-law Billy Mayhew’s death, just months after losing her son Paul Foreman. We’ll see Bernie spiral it seems, with Kate warning: “The thing with Bernie is she wants to take care of people. She’s people’s rock, and as a result of that, she’s buried a lot of grief.

“We wanted to explore what would happen if she had to deal with another really tragic death, and how that grief manifests. We take Bernie on a really interesting journey, as she kind of struggles, and it gets to the point where, because it’s been bubbling for such a long time, it eventually kind of erupts.

“When it does, there’s consequences. It’s not as straightforward as Dev sweeping in and making sure that everything’s okay. It’s a really muddy, murky story that we take her on, and, I think it sees another side of Bernie that we’ve not seen yet.

“It’s going to be a test for Bernie and Dev, but they are a really strong couple. No matter what we throw at them, they can overcome it because they love each other. They absolutely adore each other. Roy’s embroiled in that story as well.”

Grooming plot twist

The ongoing grooming plot could be about to explode, amid coach Megan abusing her teen pupil Will Driscoll. With a baby shock teased recently and Megan’s new romance with Daniel, Kate revealed there were explosive scenes on the way.

She told us: “The Driscolls really have got their feet under the table. There is loads to come for this family. We’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. The ongoing story of Will and Megan is huge for them. We also know what Maggie’s capable of now.

“When, eventually this awful secret is exposed, it’s not gonna go down well with Maggie. [As we follow on with] the Will and Megan element, Sam [Blakeman] will end up getting embroiled in it all. We will see the lengths that Megan will go to to manipulate Sam into keeping quiet, and it will be massively detrimental to Sam’s well-being.

“We have Eva in the mix, who will be naturally furious when this comes to light. We’ve got Leanne and Toyah, and you’ve got these three very strong, very fiery women, sisters, whose boys have been manipulated by this woman, who they considered their friend.

“So, needless to say, it’ll be quite explosive when this all comes to light. Ben adores his family, he adores Will, he adores Ollie. It’s a real kind of journey for us to take Ben on as well, as they all struggle to navigate this.

“It’s a situation none of them thought they’d ever be in, and the fact that they are really tests them as a family unit. Maggie’s a fiery one, so I’d keep an eye on Maggie.” The plot will also revisit Tim Metcalfe’s storyline with Trisha. Kate said: “Until this point, we’ve seen Tim be dismissive about what happened in the past, and not fully realise the extent of what had happened.

“We wanted to take Tim and the audience on a similar journey at the same time, so he will become involved in the Will and Megan story. He’ll be quite an instrumental part of that story. Seeing Will and how young and vulnerable he actually is, and how wrong the situation is, he will start to realise that what happened to him wasn’t right.

“We use both stories to make sure that Tim knows what happened in his past was not acceptable. We will also establish and delve into the friendship between Ben, Steve, and Tim.”

Shona and Jodie’s past – and link to Emmerdale’s Graham Foster

Corriedale introduced us to mystery Jodie, with her linked to returning Emmerdale character Graham. With hints about her identity, it’s now confirmed Jodie is Shona Platt’s sister, and their past will be explored very soon.

Kate shared: “Jodie is Shona’s sister. We’ve mentioned on the show previously that Shona had a younger sister, so we felt the time was right to kind of bring that sister into the mix, and explore and unpack a bit of Shona’s backstory.

“Jodie is a complicated character, and she comes with a lot of baggage. Their relationship as sisters is quite fraught, they’ve got a lot of history between them. There’s deep-seated resentment there as well, but they love each other, you know, they do have that bond, and even though they’ve been estranged for a number of years, that bond is still very kind of strong, and the tie that binds them.

“But Jodie is a really interesting character. She’s a bit of a troublemaker. She’s got a bit of mischief in her eyes, and all is not what it seems with Jodie, and there’s a lot of layers to her. Keep an eye on her, because there’s lots of secrets to explode, and she is going to come and bring an awful lot of drama to the Platt household.

“Whilst they’ve got Jodie to contend with, they’ve also got Baby Harper to look after as well, so they are being pulled from pillar to post, and Jodie comes in as a sort of a lifesaver, really, and makes herself invaluable to that family unit, but she may have ulterior motives.”

On whether there’s more to be revealed about her link to Graham, Kate added: “We will reference what happened, we’ll find out exactly why she was in that van, we’ll find out what her link to Graham is. We’ll reveal what went on between them, and how Jodie ended up running for a life and what Graham’s role was in it all. It’s a story that goes on to be really big as we get into spring and summer.”