Coronation Street's Gary Windass and Maria Connor appear to be heading for a breakup amid all the drama surrounding Theo Silverton's murder. The couple tied the knot in 2020 and with Gary's son Jake and Maria's son Liam, the pair have formed a blended family - but all that could be about to fall apart.
Sarah's confession and Maria's discovery
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien), whom Gary was in a serious relationship with a decade ago, had killed abusive scaffolder Theo (James Cartwright), and immediately called her ex to help cover up her crime, eager to keep her own partner DC Kit Green out of the whole sorry mess for fear of what it would mean for his career. Unable to live with the guilt, Sarah broke down and confessed all to her boyfriend when he got down on one knee to propose and she is now sitting in a cell having been charged with murder. Even though Kit is determined to get Sarah off the hook by any means, Maria has recently found out the lengths Gary went to help her out in the first place.
Emotional confrontation
On Thursday night's episode of the ITV soap, Maria (Samia Longchambon) put on a front for the kids as they left for school, but then told Gary: "Well, there's no point ruining their days as well. Might as well let them enjoy life while they still can. It doesn't matter what the police do. As far as me and you are concerned, the damage is done." Maria then buzzed round the flat cleaning, and reminded Gary that he would eventually be going down for Theo's murder and panicked as she recalled giving him a false alibi when she thought he was innocent. Later on, Maria stormed out and Gary was left wondering where she had gone, but when she landed back she confirmed she couldn't bring herself to go to the police.
When Gary (Mikey North) went to put his arms around Maria, she said: "No, no, no. That ship has well and truly sailed...just cos I've not dropped you in it with the police, doesn't mean there's a future for us. You have been lying and covering up for weeks. It was me who made the mistake, thinking that you could ever love anyone but her." Gary insisted yet again that he is not having an affair with Sarah, but Maria insisted that he must love her more as she tearfully claimed: "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."
What's next?
Gary then pleaded with Maria for forgiveness and tried to salvage his relationship with Maria, but she insisted that she could never really know what or who to believe until she had spoken to Sarah - and then told her husband he could sleep on the sofa for the foreseeable. Fans immediately reacted to the emotional scenes, with one viewer writing: "Such wise worlds from Maria," whilst, on X, another said: "Is it finally the end of the road for Gary & Maria?" A third said: "I mean Maria does kind of have a point there about the situation with Gary & Sarah," and another said: "Maria sure knows how to pick em! She always goes for the wrong blokes and the one she got right (Liam) died. Poor Maria!"
Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X.
