Former Coronation Street star Farrel Hegarty has opened up about how online comments about her character Lou Michaelis upset her grandmother. Lou made a huge impact when she first arrived on the cobbles alongside husband Mick in early 2025 with her brash attitude and confrontational nature.
As her tenure went on, viewers got to see a more vulnerable side to the character, with a domestic abuse storyline and a special flashback episode that delved into her relationship with Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) in their younger years.
Warned about playing a 'baddie'
Discussing the reaction to her character on the It Started with a Kiss podcast, Farrel explained that she had been warned that because she was coming in as a 'baddie', the audience may not like her. She went on to recall a discussion with co-star Joe Layton, in which he asked her if she'd read the comments yet, before warning her not to.
'Obviously, that's like when someone says, "Don't push that button!"' Farrel laughed, explaining that she then went down a 'rabbit hole' of social media comments.
Grandmother affected by criticism
However, she wasn't the only one affected by the harsh criticism online. 'I remember my grandma saying, because she's a huge Corrie fan, I was like, "Have you read the comments, Grandma?" And she went, "Yes…"'
'And I'm like, you've upset Grandma now! Upsetting me is one thing, but don't upset Granny!'
This wasn't the only time Farrel read about herself online. After leaving the ITV soap, she took to social media to read out posts claiming that she was pregnant and engaged, crying with laughter as she debunked the fake news.
Fans call for character's return
Fortunately, it seems that Farrel ultimately won fans round with her portrayal of Lou, as fans in the comments of the podcast's Instagram post are begging for the character's return.
'Farrel come back to Corrie,' one wrote, while another declared: 'Come back to the cobbles when you get released from prison please!'
'But also, you know you've done the job well if you've aggravated people that much. Being the character they love to hate is almost better than being the character they love,' another fan pointed out.
Lou is currently serving time behind bars for attacking Gary Windass (Mikey North). Fans thought they'd seen the last of her until Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) was sent to prison and befriended her former neighbour.
