Actress Beth Nixon has hinted that her character Megan Walsh could make a dramatic return to Coronation Street, despite being sentenced to five years in prison for grooming and sexually abusing teenager Will Driscoll. The revelation has left fans fuming, as many hoped the villainous athletics coach had been seen for the last time.
Megan's Crimes and Trial
Megan first arrived in Weatherfield last year as a seemingly respectable athletics coach. She used her position of authority to groom Will into an illicit and exploitative relationship, right under the nose of his unsuspecting family: step-mum Eva Price, dad Ben Driscoll, and grandmother Maggie Driscoll. Over the months, Megan manipulated Will into keeping their trysts secret through a combination of love-bombing and withdrawal of affection, even starting a relationship with headmaster Daniel Osbourne for appearances.
Schoolboy Sam Blakeman was the first to see Megan's true colours, but his investigations and exposure of her crimes came at a serious cost to his mental health. Megan bullied and harassed Sam, pushing him towards a mental breakdown. This led Sam's adoptive mum Leanne Battersby to team up with her sister Toyah Battersby and Eva to gather evidence. However, Megan was always one step ahead.
Not even Will's grandmother Maggie could stop Megan. After Maggie violently shoved Megan while she was pregnant with Will's child, Megan claimed the assault caused her to lose the baby, when in fact she had undergone a secret termination. The scales eventually fell from Will's eyes thanks to Tim Metcalfe, who helped him see the truth through his own similar experience of being taken advantage of by an older woman as a child. Will reported Megan to the police, leading to her arrest.
Trial and Sentencing
Last week's trial was nerve-wracking. Will initially fell apart on the stand and claimed he had made up the sexual relationship. Ben's temper also jeopardised the trial after he had an angry outburst during Megan's questioning and was thrown out. Fortunately, the judge allowed Will to testify a second time, and he told the whole court how Megan had sexually and psychologically abused him. The jury found Megan guilty on all charges and sentenced her to five years in prison. She was last seen being taken down from the dock, screaming that Will was lying and vowing to appeal.
Actress Teases Return
In a recent interview on the Inside Soap podcast, actress Beth Nixon was asked if Megan might reappear on screen. She replied, 'We'll see, we will have to wait and see!' When questioned about returning to play Megan from prison, she said, 'I'd love to. Any opportunity to come back I would always come back. I mean I loved it so much. I cried so much on my last day!'
Nixon added, 'But yeah I'd love to come back. It's such a fab place to work and I felt so blessed to have been given that storyline because there was so much in it. I was trusted with so much material and I like to think hopefully that people have enjoyed the storyline. So yeah, I'd love to see Megan in prison that'd be great.'
Fans already heard in Wednesday's episode that Megan had been involved in a prison brawl offscreen. Discussing how Megan might cope with life behind bars, Nixon explained: 'She's obviously very manipulative and she's always able to worm her way out of situations but there's a real broad range of personalities that are going to be in prison with her.'
