Coronation Street's Jane Danson has joked her character Leanne Battersby should have been in prison a long time ago, as she teases whether Leanne is out to get ex Nick Tilsley. The actress hinted that Leanne, now with new man Idris Nazir, is still scarred from Nick dumping her for her own sister Toyah Battersby.
Next week, a situation arises where Idris suggests Nick might be sabotaging Leanne's restaurant, and it all kicks off. A moment sees Leanne telling Nick to sell up the Bistro, and Danson has hinted there could be mischief involved.
Leanne's vendetta teased
Asked about Leanne's reaction to being accused of a vendetta, Danson said: "She’ll always throw back in Toyah’s face what she did to her, she’s got that in her back pocket! But Toyah knows Leanne better than anyone and can read her like a book. That’s what I love about that dynamic, they’re staying true to their history and continuity of the sisterhood. They may argue along the way but predominantly they love each other."
She then confessed that Leanne has a ruthless side, so much so "she should be in prison". Danson added that Leanne absolutely could be targeting Nick. Asked if she thought Leanne could be so sneaky, she shared: "Yes I do! Looking back over the years, Leanne should’ve probably gone to prison! I’ve always described her as the eternal teenager, because she’s not very reasonable most of the time.
"She would never in the moment see both sides of the story, it would only be afterwards. She goes all in and always has done, and I’ve always tried to keep that edge to her. The viewers like her more when she’s being a bit naughty. She’s pretty straight most of the time, but more often than not she will tell it how it is. Sometimes I find myself agreeing with her – only sometimes!"
Repercussions ahead
But Danson said there would be repercussions of her antics as the storyline continues. On what's ahead later this year, she said: "Because she created the Bistro with Nick, she doesn’t want it to fail because that was her baby once upon a time. It's like seeing a house you used to live in, you don’t want to see a new front door! She’s still got a fondness for it.
"Even though her business has picked up and is doing okay, if it's to the detriment of the Bistro it falls to the fact Sam is in the middle and getting quite upset about it. Nick potentially might have to sell the Bistro, which was never really fully on the cards until Idris got into Leanne’s ear. Leanne is so hot headed and always jumps in at the deep end, then thinks maybe she shouldn’t have done that. She has got a conscience, which we explore a bit further down in the story."
On Leanne's teenaged stepson Sam Blakeman being "used" to get her own way, she added: "Even though it's not the best way of going about it, she uses Sam as a bit of a weapon to say to Nick you’ve got enough on your plate, Sam’s going through a lot – maybe Leanne can take that load away from you and you can focus on Sam and be more present."
Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X.
