Coronation Street star Mikey North has appeared to tease Gary Windass' decision between his wife Maria and his former flame, Sarah Platt, as the character's marriage appeared to come to an end in the long-running show.
Maria appeared to call time on her and Gary's relationship after she discovered that, rather than having an affair with Sarah, he had been helping her cover up Theo Silverton's murder.
Fans of the ITV soap will recall that Theo's lifeless body was found by a horrified Betsy Swain on the night of her mum, Lisa Swain's, wedding to Carla Connor, bringing an end to his 13-month reign of both physical and mental abuse over his partner, and Sarah's best friend, Todd Grimshaw.
Murder investigation and suspicions
A murder investigation quickly got underway, and at the time, the abuser's husband was confirmed as a suspect by Corrie, along with George Shuttleworth, Summer Spellman, Christina Boyd, Gary and Danielle Silverton.
But during that time, Maria became suspicious that her husband, Gary, was having an affair with Sarah, and her accusations came spilling out as she and Gary joined Todd and Summer for a very awkward dinner party at Sarah's flat, hosted by her boyfriend, DC Kit Green, last month.
It was then, just for Corrie viewers, that it wasn't an affair that Sarah and Gary were having, but dark flashback scenes revealed that Gary had ended up helping cover up Theo's murder for Sarah, as she was confirmed as his unsuspecting killer.
Gary's confession and Maria's decision
Following Sarah's arrest earlier this week, during Wednesday's (July 22) visit to Weatherfield, Gary had to come clean to Maria about his role in Theo's death, after she saw a photo on Sally Metcalfe's phone which proved he was at Theo's flat on the night of his death.
Then, in Thursday's (July 23) follow-up episode of Corrie, it was clear tensions remained as Maria put on a façade in front of their children, Liam and Jake. However, she was thinking about retracting the statement she gave to the police, which gave Gary a false alibi for the night of Theo's death.
But as Gary waited with bated breath, he was relieved when Maria told him she couldn't go through with it for the sake of their boys. However, Maria went on to suggest that their marriage was over, leaving Gary to protest that things could be salvaged.
But Maria couldn't see past what Gary has done for Sarah, as despite him insisting there was nothing going on with the pair, his wife cried: "Nobody puts their neck on the line for someone the way that you did. Not unless they care more for that person than they do themselves."
Mikey North on Gary and Sarah's connection
Speaking to Inside Soap ahead of the scenes airing, actor Mikey spoke about Sarah and Gary's relationship, and his return to working more with actress Tina O'Brien. "We've both said over the years that we were gutted when they broke us up," he said.
"Those characters worked well together, and it's funny how whenever we get little bits together again, the reaction is always, 'We forgot how good Gary and Sarah are together'. It's nice to work together again on such a great storyline. And the fact that Gary's had to cover for Sarah shows there are still feelings there in some regard."
